how to recover work on word

Use Word’s built-in recovery features and AutoRecover files. Steps differ slightly by platform; try the ones that match the device used.

1. Restart Word and check Document Recovery

• Close Word completely.
• Open Word again.
• If Word closed unexpectedly, a Document Recovery pane may appear showing recovered versions of the file.
• Open the listed versions, review them, and immediately Save the one that has the latest work.

2. Use “Recover Unsaved Documents” (Windows desktop Word) If using Word on Windows:
3. Open Word.
4. Select File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.
5. Look for a file that matches the time of the lost essay, open it, then use Save As.
6. Search AutoRecover locations (Windows) If the file still isn’t there and a Microsoft 365 subscription is used:
7. In File Explorer, check:
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles (replace <UserName> with the Windows username).
8. Also try searching for *.asd and *.wbk from Start.
9. Open Word, go to File > Open > Browse, set Files of type to All Files, and open any .asd or .wbk that matches the essay.
10. Recover AutoRecover files on macOS (Word for Mac) If using Word on a Mac:
11. In Word, if it crashed, reopen it and see if it offers to recover a document automatically. If it does, open and save it immediately.
12. To look for AutoRecover files manually:
    • Switch to Finder.
    • Select Go > Go to Folder… (or press Shift+Command+G).
    • Enter:
      • /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery (replace <username> with the macOS username).
    • Look for files with names starting with “AutoRecovery save of …” and open them in Word, then save.
13. Check OneDrive or SharePoint if the file was in the cloud If the essay was saved in OneDrive or SharePoint:

• Sign in to OneDrive or SharePoint in a browser.
• Check the document’s Version history or the Recycle Bin to restore an earlier version or a deleted file.

6. If the file is damaged, try “Recover Text” (Mac) If the file opens but is blank or corrupted in Word for Mac:
7. In Word, go to Word > Preferences.
8. Under Authoring and Proofing Tools, select General.
9. Turn on Confirm file format conversion at Open.
10. Select File > Open.
11. In the Open dialog, choose Recover Text at the bottom right.
12. Open the document and save any recovered text.

For the future, keep AutoRecover/AutoSave on and save to OneDrive or SharePoint so versions can be restored if something goes wrong.

References:

• Recover your Word files and documents
• How to recover unsaved Word documents
• Recover files in Office for Mac
• Recover an earlier version of a Word file