How to recover an unsaved word document on a mac​?

Recovering an unsaved Word document on a Mac can be a stressful experience, especially if you’ve lost a lot of important work. Fortunately, there are several methods available that may help you recover your unsaved Word document on macOS.

1. Word’s AutoSave and AutoRecovery Features

Before diving into the recovery steps, it’s important to understand the built-in features of Word that help save your work.

AutoSave: AutoSave is a feature available with Microsoft 365 and OneDrive that automatically saves your document every few seconds as you work on it. It’s available only if you’re saving your documents to OneDrive or SharePoint.

AutoRecovery: Word for Mac has a feature called AutoRecovery, which is designed to save temporary copies of documents every 10 minutes. If Word or your Mac crashes unexpectedly, the AutoRecovery feature attempts to recover the document when you reopen Word.

Both of these features work in the background, making it easier to recover an unsaved Word document in the event of a crash.

2. How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents from AutoRecovery

If your document was not saved but Word had AutoRecovery enabled, you may be able to recover it from the AutoRecovery folder.

Step 1: Reopen Word

Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.

Upon reopening, Word should automatically search for any AutoRecovered documents.

If Word finds any AutoRecovered files, it will show them in the Document Recovery pane.

Step 2: Manually Access the AutoRecovery Folder

If the AutoRecovery pane doesn’t appear, you can manually search for your AutoRecovered document.

Open Finder and click on Go in the menu bar.

Select Go to Folder.

Type or paste the following path:

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~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

Press Go.

In the AutoRecovery folder, look for files with a .wbk or .asd extension. These are backup files created by Word’s AutoRecovery feature.

If you find the file you’re looking for, open it in Word.

Step 3: Recover the Document

After locating the document, open it and immediately save it to your desired location by choosing File > Save As.

3. How to Recover Unsaved Documents Using Word’s Recent Files List

If the AutoRecovery method fails or the AutoRecovery folder doesn’t contain your document, Word has another way to recover unsaved documents by using its Recent Documents list.

Step 1: Open Word

Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.

Step 2: Access Recent Documents

In Word, click on File in the top menu bar.

From the drop-down menu, choose Open Recent.

This will show a list of recently opened files. If your unsaved document was recently opened, it may appear here.

Click on the document to open it.

Step 3: Save the Document

If the document opens successfully, immediately save it using File > Save As.

4. Using Time Machine for Document Recovery

Time Machine is a backup tool that comes pre-installed on Macs. If you have been using Time Machine to back up your system, it may be able to recover your unsaved Word document, even if the AutoRecovery or Recent Files methods didn’t work.

Step 1: Connect Your Time Machine Backup Drive

Make sure your Time Machine backup drive is connected to your Mac.

Step 2: Enter Time Machine

Open Finder and navigate to the folder where your Word document was last saved (e.g., Documents, Desktop, etc.).

Click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select Enter Time Machine.

Step 3: Search for Your Word Document

Use the arrows to navigate through previous Time Machine snapshots.

When you find the folder containing the Word document, look for a version of your document before it was lost.

If you find it, click on it to highlight it, and then click Restore.

Step 4: Save the Restored Document

After restoring the document, open it and save it to a new location immediately to avoid losing it again.

5. Recovering Documents from Temporary Files

Sometimes, Word creates temporary files while you are working on a document. These files may remain on your Mac even if you haven’t saved the document, and they can sometimes be recovered.

Step 1: Search for Temporary Files

Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G to open the “Go to Folder” dialog.

Enter the following path:

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/private/var/folders

This folder contains temporary files used by various applications, including Word. However, it’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Step 2: Check Word’s Temporary Files

To locate temporary Word files, try searching for files with the .tmp extension or files that start with ~ or $..

If you find a file that corresponds to your lost Word document, open it with Word or a text editor to see if it contains your content.

6. Using Data Recovery Software to Recover Lost Documents

Panda Data Recovery can help recover unsaved files, including Word documents, under specific circumstances. If you accidentally lose an unsaved document on your Mac, it’s important to understand that Panda Data Recovery primarily focuses on recovering deleted, lost, or corrupted files from storage devices like hard drives, SSDs, and external storage.

For unsaved Word documents, Panda Data Recovery may not directly recover documents from the system’s temporary or AutoRecovery folders, as these are typically managed by the operating system and Word itself. However, if the file was saved at any point or remains on the storage device despite appearing unsaved, Panda can scan the disk to recover it.

7. How to Prevent Losing Word Documents in the Future

To avoid the stress of recovering unsaved Word documents in the future, follow these best practices:

Enable AutoSave: If you’re using Microsoft 365. make sure AutoSave is enabled to automatically save your work to OneDrive or SharePoint.

Adjust AutoRecovery Settings: You can change the frequency at which Word saves AutoRecovery versions. To do this, go to Word > Preferences > Save and adjust the AutoRecovery interval.

Use Time Machine: Make sure Time Machine is set up and regularly backing up your files.

Save Documents Frequently: Get into the habit of pressing Command + S to save your document frequently, especially when making significant changes.

Cloud Backups: Consider saving your Word documents to cloud storage services like OneDrive, Google Drive, or iCloud. This way, you’ll have a backup if anything goes wrong.