How To Recover A Word Doc That Was Not Saved – Update 2024

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how to recover a word doc that was not saved

Did you fail to close Microsoft Word without saving your working time? Or lost an unsaved Word file due to an abrupt program failure? If you need a powerful solution, don’t look any further. This article will show you a useful way on how to recover a Word doc that was not saved.

The reasons why your Word documents are missing include an error closure or a program /system failure. Fortunately, there are many ways to recover Word documents that are not saved in Windows 10 or Windows 11. Even if saved Word documents have been deleted, you can recover them from a recycling tank or use leading data recovery software.

Solution 1: Quickly Recover A Word Doc That Was Not Saved with WinfrGUI

WinfrGUI provides an easy-to-use software experience similar to Windows File Recovery. It has an easy-to-use graphical interface without complicated commands or parameters.

Launched in December 2021, WinfrGUI provides a smooth recovery experience for unsaved or removed Word files on Windows 10/11. Here’s how to use WinfrGUI for unsaved Word document recovery:

  • Enable WinfrGUI and select the appropriate disk for the address of the unsaved document.
  • Click “Scan” to start the scanning process.
  • Use the path and type tabs on the left to navigate to the specified folder. In the type tab, select “unsaved files”.
  • Double-click the folder to open or click “Open” to proceed.
  • Use the “Sample” button to view the recovered file. Once you have specified the target file, click “Recover” to start the recovery process. Avoid recovering the file to its original location to prevent accidental duplication.

WinfrGUI makes it easier to recover unsaved Word documents. With its easy-to-use interface, it is compatible with Windows 10 version 19041.0 or higher. It supports NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and ReFS file systems and has extensive accessibility and convenience. This software is powerful and allows users to restore various types of files, such as documents, photos, and videos, at no cost. Share the ease and efficiency of Winfr GUI with your friends so that they can easily recover lost data.

Solution 2: Update unsaved Word documents from AutoRecover

It is disappointing when an unsaved MS Word document is missing. However, you can download a Word document from an autosave.asd file. To recover an unsaved document, you need to enable auto-save. Follow these steps:

  • In MS Word, click on the “Files” tab and select “Manage Documents”.
  • From the dropdown, select “Recover Unsaved Documents”.
  • Check the dialog for missing files. If they have been missing recently, they should appear.
  • Open the recovered Word document and click on the “Save as” button.

For Word 2007:

  • Click on the Microsoft Office button, then select “Word Options” > “Save.”
  • Indicates the path in the AutoRecover file location box, then click “Cancel” and close Word.
  • Open the folder you previously noticed.
  • Search for a Microsoft Word document with an extension.asd (AutoRecover file). Double-click to open and save instantly.

For Word 2003 & 2002:

  • In the “Tools” menu, click “Options.”.
  • Go to the file location tab and double-click on the automatic file indicating the path. Then click “Cancel” and close Word.
  • Search for files that ended in.asd after searching for the AutoRecover file.
  • Double-click a Word document to open and save it immediately.

Additional Tip – How to Enable Automatic Recovery:

To avoid loss of Word documents, please enable automatic recovery by following these steps:

  • Open Word and go to File > Options > Save
  • Select the box “Save automatic recovery data every * minute” and “Keep the latest recorded version if I close without saving.”
  • Click “OK” to save changes.

Solution 3: Quickly restore unsaved Word documents from temporary files

If you can’t find the Word document in the AutoRecover file, you can try accessing the tmp folder to recover the unsaved Word workbook. Here’s how:

  • Press Win+E to open the file scanner.
  • Print and search for.tmp file
  • Select a tmp file from the search results and open it. Save it immediately.

Solution 4: Fix unsaved words with document recovery

In most cases, every time Word fails or suddenly closes, it automatically restores the unsaved Microsoft Office Word document when it comes back online. You can search for unsaved documents under Document Recovery in the left panel.

How to recover deleted Word documents in 2 ways

The process to recover lost or deleted files differs from unsaved Word document recovery. Here are two ways to recover deleting Word documents:

Search for deleted Word documents from the recycle box:

If you haven’t removed the trash after deleting your Word document, you can easily cancel the deletion.

Go to the recycling tank and check if the deleted Word file is still there. Search for file types such as DOC, DOCX, DOT, etc.

Select a Word file and click “Restore” to restore deleted Word documents.

Restore permanently deleted Word documents with the recovery tool:

If your Word documents are permanently lost. Data recovery software is your best choice. WinfrGUI allows you to permanently recover deleted files in various formats, including Word, Excel, PPT, email, images, videos, and so on.

Here’s how WinfrGUI helps make the recovery process easier:

  • File Location: With WinfrGUI, navigating through the recovery process is easy. Select a specific drive or folder where your Word document is missing, then click the scan button to start.
  • Search your document: WinfrGUI quickly scans all the lost data on the selected drive. When the scanning is complete, please watch the scan results using an easy-to-use interface. Search your Word file under the ‘Document’ option and look ahead to make sure you find the correct file.
  • Recovery with ease: After finding your missing Word document, select the desired file and click on the ‘Recover’ button. Do not forget to save the recovered document in different places to prevent any accidents.

Conclusion

This tutorial contains five ways to recover unsaved Word workbooks on Windows and Mac devices. With the help of the WinfrGUI MS Office file recovery software, you can recover lost, unsaved, and deleted Word documents even without a Word backup file.

We hope these solutions will help you recover lost Word documents. Remember to make a backup of your Word documents to avoid future file loss.