Where to Find Recovered Word Documents?

Can Microsoft recover Word documents?

It is inevitable that file loss will occur during daily work, which can leave us feeling frustrated, particularly after investing a significant amount of effort into my projects. Sudden software closures, accidental system crashes, or other common causes may result in the loss of a critical Word document.

Fortunately, Microsoft Word provides a variety of built-in features that can assist in the recovery of deleted documents. Its AutoRecover feature generates backups of your documents automatically, which can be essential for recovering unsaved work. Furthermore, the Version History feature can be employed to restore the document to an earlier iteration if it has been saved to OneDrive or SharePoint.

Where to find recovered Word documents on Windows computer?

This part illustrates the precise steps of each method and instructs you on where to find recovered Word documents.

Way 1. Recover unsaved Word files

AutoRecover is a feature that is integrated into Microsoft Word and facilitates the automatic saving of temporary duplicates of your Word documents at regular intervals. Unsaved documents can be effortlessly recovered in the event of a software malfunction or accidental closure.

This function automatically backs up your document every 10 minutes, provided that you have enabled it in advance. Nevertheless, you have the option to modify the interval settings in order to back up your documents more frequently if necessary.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word and navigate to File > Options > Save in turn.

Step 2: Make sure the Save AutoRecover information every x minutes and Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving boxes are both selected.

Step 3: Set the time intervals according to your needs.

Initially, attempt to restart Microsoft Word if you encounter an unexpected breakdown or closure while editing. The Document Recovery pane will typically appear on the left side, enabling you to select the document you wish to recover. If the pane fails to materialize, it is still possible to locate these unsaved documents manually.

You need to open Microsoft Word, and click File > Open > Recent in turn. Then, select Recover Unsaved Documents at the interface bottom. You will see a list of recently backed-up files that were automatically.

Now, click the Save As button to store it to the desired destination. Don’t forget the location where you save the files.

Way 2. Restore Word documents to Previous Versions

Microsoft Word also allows you to restore your document to a previous version, provided that it has been saved to your OneDrive or Sharepoint account. MS Word automatically monitors and saves the versions of a document every time it is saved, enabling you to easily revert to a previous version if necessary.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word, and click File > Info > Version History. Here you can see a list of different versions of your document.

Step 2: Choose the version you want to recover and open it.

Step 3: Click the Restore option on the top bar to recover your document to this version. If you want to compare differences between two versions, please click the Compare option.

How can you recover lost Word Documents from Windows PC?

Usually, if you want to find recovered Word files, the above 2 methods are enough. However, for those accidentally removed Word files from Recycle Bin or permanently deleted Word documents, Microsoft Word can’t perform file recovery. So, if you need to recover lost Word files, you can follow the guide in this part.

Solution 1. Use professional data recovery tool to recover lost Word files

The most straightforward and effective methods is to retrieve lost Word documents by employing third-party software. AOMEI FastRecovery is a data recovery tool that is both user-friendly and robust, and it is intended to help users retrieve a variety of file formats from a variety of devices without causing any data loss. AOMEI FastRecovery can effortlessly manage file loss resulting from system failures, unexpected formatting, or virus attacks.

Step 1: Download and install AOMEI FastRecovery first, and then choose the exact partition or disk where your documents are located.

Step 2: Scan your disk comprehensively to find the deleted documents .

Step 3: Upon scanning completion, all missing files will be displayed. Kindly choose the desired file and then click Recover.

Step 4: Specify a path for the file and wait until the procedure is complete.

Solution 2. Restore lost documents via File History

Another dependable recuperation method is to utilize Windows's File History feature. The capability to retain multiple versions of files and provide a flexible recovery option when necessary is a built-in feature of Windows 8 and subsequent versions.

Step 1: Go to the Control Panel, and select System and Security > File History in turn.

Step 2: Click Restore personal files.

Step 3: Choose the files you want to recover, and then click the Recover button.

To sum up

Word documents are frequently employed in word processing and office applications; however, they are also susceptible to data loss, particularly in the event of system crashes or software flaws that occur unexpectedly. This post provides 2 methods to help you when you don’t know where to find recovered Word documents.

Nevertheless, Microsoft Word is unable to resolve all file loss scenarios, including the deletion of your documents. So, there are other two methods for the majority of file loss scenarios in this post, which can assist in reducing the risk of file loss and ensuring the continued integrity of data.