Recover Lost Microsoft Word Document Mac

Describes a range of methods to locate and recover lost Microsoft Word documents. Discusses Word 2002, Word 2003, Word 2007, and Word 2010 under various versions of Windows. How to recover a lost Word document - Office Microsoft Docs. Use AutoSave and AutoRecover to save or recover files automatically in Office Word, PowerPoint, and Excel for Mac. Recover files in Office for Mac. The application will automatically recover your work the next time that you open the app following a power failure or other unexpected shutdown by detecting that an AutoRecover file exists. Jun 01, 2018  How to Recover a Word Document on Mac/Windows Quickly and Easily: a Short Guide. How to Recover an Unsaved or Lost Microsoft Word, Excel Document or PowerPoint Presentation ⚕️.

  1. Recover Unsaved Word Document In Mac
  2. Recover Lost Microsoft Word Document Mac 2019

Summary

In this article, you will learn 4 effective ways to recover unsaved, lost and deleted Word document on Mac with detailed steps: [1]recover with AutoRecovery; [2]Recover from Temp folder; [3]Recover from Recovered item in Trash; [4]recover with Word file recovery software.

Accidentally closed Word without saving on Mac? Do you know how to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac? According to the unique features of Microsoft Word for Mac, you may find the unsaved item in the AutoRecovery folder, Temporary folder or Recovered item in Trash. Besides, if you unintentionally lost, deleted or formatted your Word document, you can recover a Word document on Mac with EaseUS Word file recovery software.

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Recover Unsaved Word Document

#1. Recover from the AutoRecovery folder..Full steps
#2. Recover from the TMP folder..Full steps
#3. Recover from the Recover item in Trash..Full steps

Recover Deleted Word Document#4. Recover with Word file recovery software..Full steps

How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac

Embedded with more useful features in certain collaborative situations than Pages, Microsoft Word becomes increasingly popular among Mac computers. Office 365 even allows users to create Word files on their Mac. On one hand, Microsoft Word offers standard DOC or DOCX file formats that are compatible in almost every OS platform; On the other hand, Word 2020, 2019, 2018..2011 is featured with auto-saving, which enables us to recover a Word document before we could hit Save.

Based on the features of Microsoft Word for Mac, there are three potential ways to recover your unsaved Word documents. These methods can also be applied to recover unsaved Excel files on your Mac.

#1. Recover Unsaved Word Docs on Mac with AutoRecovery

The Word for Mac includes an AutoRecovery option. It is turned on by default. The app will automatically save a copy of an open Word file every 10 minutes. If Word freezes while you're working on a document, or if the computer crashes, you can use the AutoRecovery copy to recover unsaved Word document with the changes or additions that you made in your last Word for Mac session.

Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document

Unlike recovering unsaved Word document in Windows, the file recovery on Mac from the AutoRecovery folder is different.

Step 1. Open 'Finder' on your Mac, then head to 'Go' > 'Go to Folder'.

Step 2. Type: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click 'Go'.

Step 3. Open the AutoRecovery folder, locate all the files that start with the words 'AutoRecovery save of'. Select the one you want to recover, rename the file, then add the '.doc' filename extension.

Step 4. Double-click the file. The document now opens in Word for Mac.

Step 5. Click the File menu and select 'Save As'. Type a new name for the file into the Name field, select a folder for the file and click the 'Save' button.

#2. Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac from TMP Folder

The Word for Mac saves a copy of the unsaved document named as Word Work File in the Temporary folder. Your Mac also temporarily keep files in this folder. Though for many Mac users, it's not easy to find it.

Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac

Step 1. Go to 'Applications' > 'Utilities' and double-click 'Terminal'.

Step 2. In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR and you will be directed to the TMP folder which is used to keep files temporarily.

Step 3. In the TMP folder, find and open the folder named 'TemporaryItems'. In it, right-click the desired unsaved Word files and 'Open with..' Microsoft Word.

Step 4. Save the Word file by clicking on 'File' > 'Save As' and save it to another location.

#3. Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac from Recovered Item

The Word for Mac temporarily saves documents that the user has not yet saved themselves in a folder named 'Recovered items', located in the Trash. If there are no recovered files, this folder will not appear.

Guide: How to find unsaved Word files on Mac

Step 1. Open 'Trash' by clicking its icon on the dock.

Step 2. Look for a folder labeled 'Recovered items' and click into it to look for your unsaved Word file. If you cannot find it, try the next solution.

#4. Recover Deleted Word Document with Word Recovery Software

The aforementioned three ways are exclusively for saving the file you're currently working on but suddenly disappear before clicking the Save button. To be specific, the methods will only work for files that are in the process of being worked on when they disappeared. Hence, if you lost a Word doc that is already existed by deletion, disk formatting or losing its access, you need to turn to other ways to recover a Word document on Mac.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is third-party specialized Mac data recovery software that can scour your hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, or USB flash drive to find all the lost data that vanishes without a trace on Mac OS X/macOS. It doesn't matter whether you emptied the trash bin or not, the deleted file will show up after you use the program to scan your selected drive.

For the first attempt, we strongly recommend you download its free version. It won't cost you a penny to search for your missing files. And since your problem is only for a few lost Word files, the 2GB recovery limit should be more than enough. The scan & recovery process is very simple, we’ll show you how it works.

Guide: How to recover a Word document on Mac

Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.

Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.

How to Increase the Chance of Unsaved Word Data Recovery

After suffering from the fear of losing your Word documents, you must not want to experience this kind of situation again. Thus, it's necessary for you to know how to avoid losing your Word files. To avoid completely losing your files, you can:

Tip 1. Save the Word Document Whenever You Create a New One

An ever unsaved Word document exists in the computer's RAM, not on the hard disk. Thus, the chances to save a Word Document that has never been saved before are slim. Knowing this should give you a hint that you should save the word document at least once whenever you create a new one.

It also has some support for scripting, and offers options for publishing databaseson the web.However, it's also necessary to note that FileMaker is very different from Access. Microsoft access for mac sql. Similar to Access, FileMaker stores your database logic and all the datain a single file.

Tip 2. Change the AutoSave Interval

After you save your Word document, the AutoSave feature will begin to work. To minimize the loss of the progress on the file you are working, you can change the frequency of AutoSave:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.

Step 2. Go to 'Word' > 'Preferences' and click 'Save' under Output and Sharing.

Step 3. Check all the items under Save Options (Recommended) and change the interval of AutoSave, for example, from every 10 minutes to every 5 minutes.

If you follow the two tips above, you will substantially decrease the risk of losing your Word documents. What if you carelessly deleted your important Word files on your Mac? No worry. Try the free method to retrieve permanently deleted Word documents with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Mar 09,2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

  • Case 1: I accidentally deleted a Word document on my Mac.
  • Case 2: Word document files unexpectedly closes and aren't saved.
  • Case 3: I lost my Word document on Mac due to the sudden shutdown or crash.

Word document accidentally deleted or lost before saving? When it happens, you can first go to the Mac Trash to restore them to the original location. If not, take it easy. In this article, we will offer the best 3 ways to help you recover lost, deleted or unsaved Word document on Mac.

Way 1 How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac

Your Word files can be deleted or lost due to careless or wrong deletion, Option-Shift-Command-Delete or Shift-Command-Delete clicking, system crash, virus attack, hard drive formatting, hard drive corruption and more. Regardless of the causes, we can surely tell you that 'Yes, you can recover a deleted or lost Word document'. As long as you get a powerful Mac data recovery software, you can easily and quickly recover Word document.

1. Recoverit - The Best Software for Word Document Recovery

As for the powerful Word document recovery tool, we recommend Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac. This file recovery program is safe and reliable. It can easily and effectively help you recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac and Windows, even your Word document files are not saved. Follow the next guide to recover deleted, lost or unsaved Word document on Mac.

Recover Unsaved Word Document In Mac

2. How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac

In this section, we're going to provide the specific solution for deleted or lost Word file recovery on Mac. If you're searching for a solution on Windows, please download the Windows version and take the same steps.

Video Guide to Word Document Recovery on Mac


How Do I Recover a Deleted or Lost Word Document

Free download and install Recoverit Mac Data Recovery on your computer. Follow the next steps to perform deleted files recovery on Mac. Just in 3 steps and minutes, you can get lost files back instantly.

  1. Select a Word file location
  2. To recover deleted or lost Word files on Mac, you need to select a location where your Word document were stored. Click 'Start' to get started.

  3. Scan for lost Word files
  4. Recoverit File Recovery Software will start to scan the hard disk. It will take for a while to deep scan and search the location for deleted files.

  5. Preview and recover Word document
  6. After the scanning, you can check all recoverable files. Preview some recovered photos, select your Word document files and click 'Recover' button to get them back.

    With Recoverit Data Recovery, you can easily recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac. The reliable data recovery software will keep your system or data private. Download and try it for free now.

If you just find your Word document won't be opened, don't worry. We also offer 4 solutions for you. Turn to this page and fix 'Microsoft Word Won't Open on Mac'.

Way 2AutoRecovery: How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac

For Word documents not saved promptly, there are also some methods to help get them back. The first method is AutoRecovery. Microsoft Word has an auto save function, which saves your data in a specified folder. In this method, you don't need any Word recovery software. Now, what we're going to do is accessing that folder to retrieve your lost files. Follow the steps:

  1. Access this path Finder/Go/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery. Please bear in mind that you have to press the 'Option' key while clicking 'Go' in finder to be able to access 'Library' folder which is usually hidden;
  2. Once you see your file, open it;
  3. Save your file in any location;
  4. You have successfully recovered your file.

Way 3TMP Folder: Recover Word Document Not Saved on Mac

The last way you can resort to for Mac Word document recovery is to open Temporary folder with Terminal.

  1. Find and open 'Terminal' in Utilities.
  2. Type 'open $TMPDIR' and press 'Enter'.
  3. Find and open the TMP Folder named 'TemporaryItems'
  4. Select and save the unsaved Word documents you want.

Usually, your Word document not saved promptly should be in the temporary folder on Mac. If you do not find them, that's because you have deleted them or clean up the folder.

Recover Lost Microsoft Word Document Mac 2019

To Wrap Up

It doesn't matter which method you are using to perform lost or deleted Word files recovery on Mac as long as you can get your files back. However, if you lost your files and can't get them back with the Office features, then I suggest you use the Recoverit Word File Recovery Software. It is a truely reliable and workable tool to help you recover Word document on Mac. Keynote files recovery can be also done with it.

What's Wrong with Mac

Recover Your Mac
Fix Your Mac
Delete Your Mac
Learn Mac Hacks