To do this, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running. Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013. On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse. If you don't see your document listed, select Recover Unsaved Documents. On the File menu, select Recent.

• Apr 19, 2018  So you need to make sure the AutoRecover option is turned on. Under this circumstance, it will save versions while you're working on the Word document. Then you can take the following guide to recover previous version of Word document. Restore previous Word document if you've saved the file.
• Apr 19, 2018 So you need to make sure the AutoRecover option is turned on. Under this circumstance, it will save versions while you're working on the Word document. Then you can take the following guide to recover previous version of Word document. Restore previous Word document if you've saved the file.

Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

If you're looking for recent Word document recovery info, see:

• Recover your Office files (For versions through Office 2019)

For more on earlier versions of Word, see:

Resolution

To fix this problem, use the following methods in the order in which they're presented, as appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: Search for the original document

Recover Word Document That Wasn't Saved

To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of Windows that you're running.

Windows 10 and Windows 7

1. Select Start, type the document name in the Start Search box (.doc or .docx), and then press Enter. If the File list contains the document, double-click the document to open it in Word.
2. If the File list does not contain the file, go to Method 2.

Method 2: Search for Word backup files

Word backup file names end with the .wbk extension. If the Always create backup copy option is selected, there may be a backup copy of the file.

Note

To locate this option:

• Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013:Select File, then Options, and then Advanced. Scroll down to the Save section and select Always create backup copy.
• Word 2010:Select File, then Options. In the Save tab, select Always create backup copy.

To find the backup copy of the file, follow these steps:

1. Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
2. Search for files that have the .wbk file name extension.

If there's no .wbk file in the original folder, search the computer for any .wbk files. To do this, follow these steps:

Windows 10 and Windows 7

1. Select Start, type *.wbk in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
2. If the File list contains the backup file, repeat the steps in step 2 ('Search for files that have the .wbk file name extension') to open the file. If the File list does not contain the backup file, go to Method 3.

If you find any files that have the name 'Backup of' followed by the name of the missing file, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running.

Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013

1. On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse. (In some versions, select Computer and then Browse.)
2. In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
3. Select the backup file that you found, and then select Open.

Word 2010

1. On the File menu, select Open.
2. In the Files of type list (All Word documents), select All Files.
3. Select the backup file that you found, and then select Open.

Method 3: Search for AutoRecover files

AutoRecover file names end with the .asd extension. By default, Word searches for AutoRecover files every time that it starts, and then it displays all that it finds in the Document Recovery task pane.

1. Use Word to automatically find the AutoRecover files. To do this, follow these steps:

   1. Right-click the taskbar, and then select Task Manager.

   2. On the Processes tab, select any instance of Winword.exe or Microsoft Word, and then select End Task or End Process. Repeat this step until you have exited all instances of Winword.exe and Word.

   3. Close the Windows Task Manager dialog box, and then start Word.

      If Word finds the AutoRecover file, the Document Recovery task pane opens on the left side of the screen, and the missing document is listed as 'document name [Original]' or as 'document name [Recovered].' If this occurs, double-click the file in the Document Recovery pane, select Save As on the File menu, and then save the document as a .docx file. Manually change the extension to .docx, if necessary, by right-clicking the file and selecting Rename.

2. If the Recovery pane does not open, manually search for AutoRecover files. To do this, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running.

   Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013

   1. On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse.
   2. If you don't see your document listed, select Recover Unsaved Documents.

   Word 2010

   1. On the File menu, select Recent.
   2. If you don't see your document listed, select Recover Unsaved Documents.

3. If you can't locate an AutoRecover file in the location that is identified in the Folder name list, search your whole drive for any .asd files. To do this, follow these steps:

   Windows 10 and Windows 7

   1. Select Start, type .asd in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
   2. If the File list does not contain AutoRecover files, go to Method 4.

   If you find any files that have the .asd extension, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running:

   Word 2019, Word 2016, or Word 2013

   1. On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse. (In some versions, select **Computer **and then Browse.)
   2. In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
   3. Select the .asd file that you found, and then select Open.

   Word 2010

   1. On the File menu, select Open.
   2. In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
   3. Select the .asd file that you found, and then select Open.

Note

If you find an AutoRecover file in the Recovery pane that does not open correctly, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to open damaged files.

Method 4: Search for temporary files

Temporary file names end with the .tmp extension. To find these files, use one of the following procedure.

Windows 10 and Windows 7

1. Select Start, type .tmp in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
2. On the Show only toolbar, select Other.
3. Scroll through the files and search for files that match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you're looking for, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to recover information from the file.

Method 5: Search for '~' files

Some temporary file names start with the tilde (~) character. To find these files, follow these steps:

Windows 10 and Windows 7

1. Select Start, type ~ in the Start Search box.

2. Select See more results.

   Scroll through the files, and look for any that may match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you're looking for, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to recover information from the file.

For information about how Word creates and uses temporary files, see Description of how Word creates temporary files.

Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents

For information about how to troubleshoot damaged Word documents, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

More information

You can lose a Word document in certain situations. For example, the document may be lost if an error occurs that forces Word to close, if you experience a power interruption while editing, or if you close the document without saving your changes.

Note

Mac Recover Previous Version Of Microsoft Word Saved Document Online

The whole document may be lost if you have not recently saved the document. If you have saved your document, you may lose only the changes that you made since the last save. Be aware that some lost documents may not be recoverable.

The AutoRecover feature in Word performs an emergency backup of open documents when an error occurs. Some errors can interfere with the AutoRecover functionality. The AutoRecover feature is not a substitute for saving your files.

We do not provide any utilities to recover deleted documents. However, some third-party utilities to recover deleted documents might be available on the Internet.

Find Unsaved Word Document Windows 10

For more information about AutoRecover, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Mar 31,2020 • Filed to: Document Recovery • Proven solutions

'When trying to save a document I clicked on the wrong file name to save as. When saving I clicked replace old file, and then realized I had just saved it under the wrong name. Now the original document I had is gone. I tried to right click on document and chose restore previous versions, but no previous versions came up. Someone please tell me there is hope in recovering this original file that literally took 4 hours to complete. Thanks.'

It is often a necessity to recover files that are lost or deleted accidentally, either that was in your Windows or Mac PC. The recovery process or recover overwritten Word document is easier as deleted files often remain in certain parts of your hard drive or even in the recesses of external hard drives. However, when the data gets overwritten, then you might land in a dilemma, thinking that such files cannot be recovered. However, there are certain ways that such data can be recovered.

Recent Word Documents Not Saved

It is a common phenomenon that many people face in the digital life that they lead, often not saving files when a system crashes, or files might be corrupted, damaged or overwritten by accident. Obviously, recovering a file that is overwritten is not a simple task, but if that is a Word document, things could be a little bit different. Because Microsoft Office does offer certain ways that such a file can be recovered. If these are not working, you can also make use of a data recovery tool that will simplify the process and increase chances of finding an overwritten file.

Now, let's check these different ways of recovering overwritten Word files Windows 7/8/10.

Recover Unsaved Word Documents In Mac Microsoft

Part 1. How to Recover Overwritten Word File from Temp Files?

Among the manual ways you can explore to recover overwritten Word files Windows 7/8/10 in your Windows PC, there is a way of looking for the same in the Temporary files folder. This is a useful option on Windows computer and below are the tips for your reference:

• Microsoft Office has Word files and their temliorary versions saved as and when such files are worked ulion in the system.


• Follow the temli file folder location to find Word temli files with .TMli extension:
1. For Windows 7 users: C:UsersnameAliliDataRoamingMicrosoftWord
2. For Windows 8/10 users: C:UsersAliliDataLocalMicrosoftOfficeUnsavedFiles


• You can also locate the Word temli files by tyliing '$' and ending the search string with TMli and Word as the file extension to look for.


• Change the file extension from .TMli to .DOC or .DOCX.

Now, you've successfully restored the overwritten Word document in Microsoft Word 2016/2010/2007, and you can use it on your PC as you like.

Part 2. How to Recover A Word Document That was Overwritten from Previous Version?

There is another way to recover overwritten Word file on your Windows PC as well as Mac. Here we showcase the different steps to follow in order to recover such files manually using the previous version feature. Windows, as well as Mac users, have unique functions that result in previous versions of files as well as folders being saved which can help users to gain access to such files if they wish to restore a previous version.

1. Olien Cortana search keyboard in your Windows 10 or olien Start menu in Windows 7, then tylie in 'backuli' or 'backuli and restore'. (Windows 8 users can tylie 'file recovery')


2. You can try to restore old files by reverting to the Restore section. It is also liossible to select an olition such as selecting another backuli to restore files in order to check any other backuli section.


3. Choosing backuli by date is another way to look for the overwritten Word document. If you remember the date when the original file was created, you could choose to search a backuli folder by date.


4. When the Restore Files window oliens uli, you can select a sliecific time frame that dislilays older backuli files.

Once you have found the files or folder that you wish to restore, you can click on it and add it to a folder by creating a new one. You could also move the file that you found to a specific folder or location and ensure that you rename the file.

Part 3. How to Recover Replaced or Overwritten Word File with Recoverit (Mac/Windows)?

A convenient tool to use to recover an overwritten Word document is Recoverit for Mac or Data Recovery for Windows. It is a comprehensive and competent data recovery tool that offers various useful functions to help their users to recover all types of data from various disks in any data loss situations.

Recoverit (IS)

Why Choose This Hard Drive Data Recovery Software:/ A Life Saver to Solve Your Data Loss Problems!

• Users can opt for the Mac or Windows version of the tool to recover different kinds of files, whether they are resized, corrupted, deleted, formatted, lost or damaged.
• Offers 8 different modes for data recovery, such as deleted files recovery, formatted disk recovery, system crash recovery, partition recovery, all-around recovery and so on.
• Recover data from hard drive of laptops or PCs, USB flash drive, external disk, memory cards and others without restrictions.
• Stop or pause scanning as you like, which will help to save results that are already shown or to save scanned results which can be referred to later.
• Easy to use and 100% safe.

How to Perform the Best Word Recovery Software on Mac or PC?

Step 1. Please download and install this program on your Mac or Windows computer.

Step 2. There will be several disks showcased as options. The right disk needs to be selected where the overwritten file has been originally stored.

Step 3. Click on 'Recover' to allow scanning to start for the lost file. The scanning might be taken for some time due to the deep scanning. Please wait for the end patiently or you can stop the scanning once you found your overwritten Word file has been found.

Step 4. Once the scan is completed specific files that you wish to recover can be checked and recovered by clicking on the 'Recover' button. You will be given the option to save files onto another drive or even on an external storage media.

[Update] Even though this data recovery tool proves effective in most cases, but the recovery of an overwritten file is not a very easy task, so it is not 100% guarantee you can get the overwritten Word back with this tool. But here, we provide you with a free trial version for scanning, so you can make sure the tool is working or not for you.