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How to recover a lost Word document
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Article ID: 316951 - View products that this article applies to.
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INTRODUCTION
More information
Method 1: Search for the original document
Steps for Windows 8.1 or Windows 8
Steps for Windows Vista or Windows 7
Steps for Microsoft Windows XP
Method 2: Restart Word to look for the recovered document
Method 3: Search for AutoRecover files
Steps for Word 2013
Steps for Word 2010
Steps for Word 2007
Steps for Word 2003 and Word 2002
Search for .asd files in all folders
Method 4: Search for Word backup files
Steps for Word 2013
Steps for Word 2010
Steps for Word 2007
Steps for Microsoft Word 2002 or Microsoft Office Word 2003
Search for .wbk files in all folders
Method 5: Search for temporary files
Method 6: Search for "~" files
Method 7: Check the Recycling Bin
How to troubleshoot damaged documents
References
Properties

<style>.tocTitle, #tocDiv{display: none;}</style>

INTRODUCTION
Microsoft Word documents can be lost in certain situations. For example, the document may
be lost if an error occurs that forces Word to quit, if you experience a power interruption
while editing, or if you close the document without saving changes. This article explains steps
that you can use to try to recover the lost document.
Note Some lost documents may not be recoverable.
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More information
Use the following methods in the order in which they are presented, as appropriate for your
situation.
Method 1: Search for the original document
Steps for Windows 8.1 or Windows 8
Press the Windows logo key+E to open Windows Explorer.
In the Search This PC box, type the document name, and then press ENTER.
If the Word document is listed, double-click the document to open it. If you do not see the
Word document that you are looking for, go to step 4.
In the Search This PC box, type *.docx, and then press ENTER.
If the result list does not contain the Word document that you are looking for, continue to
Method 2.
Steps for Windows Vista or Windows 7
Click Start
Collapse this imageExpand this image

, type the document name in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If the File list contains the document, double-click the document to open it in Word.

If the File list does not contain the document, go to step 3.

Click Start
Collapse this imageExpand this image

, type *.doc in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
Note For Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents or Word 2010 documents, type *.docx.
If the File list does not contain the file, continue to Method 2.
Steps for Microsoft Windows XP
Click Start, click Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
In the Search for files or folders named box, type the file name.
In the Look in box, click My Computer.
Click Search Now. If the Search Results box does not contain the file, proceed with the
following steps to search for all Word documents.
In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.doc. For Microsoft Office Word 2007
documents or Word 2010 documents, type *.docx.
Click Search Now.
If the Search Results box does not contain the file, continue to Method 2.
Method 2: Restart Word to look for the recovered document
End all Word related processes:
Press Ctrl+Alt+Esc to open the Task Manager dialog box.
On the Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe or Microsoft Word, and then click
End Process. Repeat this step until you have quit all instances of Winword.exe and Word.
Note If this is your first time using Task Manager in Windows 8.1 or Windows 8, click More
details to see all processes.
Close the Windows Task Manager dialog box.
Restart Word and then see if the missing file is displayed in the Document Recovery task
pane.By default, Word searches for AutoRecover files each time it starts.

Double click the AutoRecover files one by one. If you find the lost Word file, save it
immediately.
Method 3: Search for AutoRecover files
If the Recovery pane does not open, manually search for AutoRecover files (.asd files). To do
this, follow these step, as appropriate for the version of Word that you are running.
Steps for Word 2013
On the File menu, click Open, and then click Recent Documents.
Scroll to the end of all recent documents, and then click Recover Unsaved Documents.
If you find the Word document that you are looking for, double-click it to open it.
Save it immediately.
Steps for Word 2010
On the File menu, click Recent.
Click Recover Unsaved Documents.
If you find the Word document that you are looking for, double-click it to open it.
Save it immediately.
Steps for Word 2007
Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
In the Navigation Pane, click Save.
In the AutoRecover file location box, note the path, and then click Cancel.
Close Word.
Open the folder that you noted in step 3.
Look for files whose names end in .asd (AutoRecover files).
If you find the Word document that you are looking for, double-click it to open it.
Save it immediately.
Steps for Word 2003 and Word 2002

On the Tools menu, click Options.

Click the File Locations tab, double-click AutoRecover files, note the path, click Cancel, and
then click Close.
Note In the Modify Location dialog box, you may have to click the down arrow in the Folder
name list to see the whole path to your AutoRecover files.
Close Word.
Locate the AutoRecover file location.
Look for files whose names end in .asd (AutoRecover files).
If you find the Word document that you are looking for, double-click it to open it.
Save it immediately.
Search for .asd files in all folders
If you cannot locate an .asd (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:
Refer method 1 to perform a search for *.asd files.
Scroll through the files to see the one that you are looking for.
If you are not sure which file is the right one, copy and save all .asd file to a location.
Start Word.
Click File > Open.
Browse to the location that you saved the .asd files, click to select All Files *.* because the
.asd files may not be displayed.
Click to open the .asd file one by one.
If you find the missing file, save it immediately.
Method 4: Search for Word backup files
Steps for Word 2013
Start Word 2013.
Click the File menu, click Open, click Computer, and then click Browse.

Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
In the Files of type list (All Word documents), click All Files. The backup file usually has the
name "Backup of" followed by the name of the missing file.
Click the backup file, and then click Open.
Steps for Word 2010
Start Word 2010.
Click the File menu, and then click Open.
Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
In the Files of type list (All Word documents), click All Files. The backup file usually has the
name "Backup of" followed by the name of the missing file.
Click the backup file, and then click Open.
Steps for Word 2007
Start Word 2007.
Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Open.
Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
In the Files of type list, click All Files. The backup file usually has the name "Backup of"
followed by the name of the missing file.
Click the backup file, and then click Open.
Steps for Microsoft Word 2002 or Microsoft Office Word 2003
Start Word.
On the File menu, click Open.
Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
Point to the arrow in the Files of type box, click All Files *.*. The backup file usually has the
name "Backup of" followed by the name of the missing file.
Click the backup file, and then click Open.
Search for .wbk files in all folders

Refer method 1 to perform a search for *.wbk files (backup files).

Scroll through the files to see the one that you are looking for.
If you are not sure which file is the right one, copy and save the .wbk files to a location.
Start Word.
Click File > Open.
Locate the .wbk files, and then open them one by one.
If you find the missing file, save it immediately.
Method 5: Search for temporary files
Refer to method 1 to perform a search for *.tmp files (temporary files).
If you are not sure which file is the missing file, save all .tmp files to a location.
Start Word.
Click File > Open.
Browse to the location that you saved the .tmp files, and then click All Files *.* . If you do not
click All Files *.*, the .tmp files may not be displayed.
Open .tmp files one by one.
If you find the missing file, save it immediately.
For more information about how Word creates and uses temporary files, click the following
article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
211632
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211632/ )
Description of how Word creates temporary files
Method 6: Search for "~" files
Some temporary file names start with the tilde (~) character. To find those files, follow these
steps:
Refer to method 1 to perform a search for ~*.* files (temporary files).
Refer to method 5 to check the temporary files.

Method 7: Check the Recycling Bin

On the desktop, open the Recycling Bin.
If you find the Word document, right-click it, and then click Restore.
Note The document is returned to its original location. If you are not sure where it is actually
restored to, refer to method 1 to perform a search for it.
Locate and double click the document.
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How to troubleshoot damaged documents
For more information about how to troubleshoot damaged Word documents, click the
following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
826864
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826864/ )
How to troubleshoot damaged Word documents
918429
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918429/ )
How to troubleshoot damaged documents in Word 2007 and in Word 2010
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References
For more information about AutoRecover, click the following article numbers to view the
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
212273
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212273/ )
Why you are unable to recover a lost document
156574
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156574/ )
What is the AutoRecover feature in Word?

211762
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211762/ )
Automatically saving current work (open document)
107686
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/107686/ )
How Word creates and recovers the AutoRecover files
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Properties
Article ID: 316951 - Last Review: January 8, 2014 - Revision: 6.0
Applies to
Microsoft Office Word 2007
Microsoft Word 2002
Microsoft Word 2010
Keywords: kbhowto ocsso KB316951
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