3 Simple Ways to Recover Lost or Unsaved Word Documents on Mac

If you use Microsoft Word for your
composition needs, then there are times when your Mac will give you a surprise
headache. The system might freeze, you may lose power, or the software could
crash for a variety of reasons.

When you have not yet saved what you’re
writing, then the typical restore feature for Word could provide you with a
blank file. That’s no good if you’ve already written 1,000 words!

Instead of relying on the AutoRecover Word
Mac functions that are available with this software, a better solution might be
to use a free recovery too.

If you get Disk Drill for Mac, then you will have another layer of protection that can help you to recover Word documents quickly and effortlessly.

Recover
Word Documents on Mac Today

Microsoft Word offers
an autosave feature that makes it very easy to recover your content in only a
few steps. Unless you are operating from a standalone installation, most
installations of this word processing program occur through Office 365.

If you created a file name and saved it to
your OneDrive, then you can log in to your Microsoft account to access this
cloud-based storage. Your most recent save will be at the top of your documents
list under the “recent” selection.

You can also save files to your iCloud
account from your Mac as an alternative option. Open the autosave file from
that drive instead of opening Microsoft Word to use the auto-restore feature.

Should neither option be available, then a
free file recovery program might be a better solution to try then restoring
your last access to the document. You may find that there is more saved, even
in an unsaved file, then you realize.

This option works for both Word or Excel.

How
to Recover Unsaved Documents Through Microsoft Word

If the free file recovery tool is unable to recognize the file on which you were working, then there may be temporary files still available on your system that Microsoft Word can access. You can follow these steps to recover the content if you closed without saving or experienced a sudden crash for any reason.

1. Open Microsoft Word and create a new,
blank document.

2. Under the Document Recovery Section,
click the down-arrow for the document to recover if there is data available.

3. Select the Save As option to create the
file, then select a folder for document storage.

If Word doesn’t immediately recognize that
there is an unsaved file to recover, you can force the issue by going to the
File menu after opening a new, blank document instead. Then click on the Info
command, followed by the Manage Document option, and then finally choose
Recover Unsaved Documents.

Select the file that you wish to recover,
and then choose the Open command. You can then save the document normally.

What
If the Unsaved Files Folder is Empty in Word?

If Word crashed and recover document Mac commands
are unavailable to you because the unsaved files folder is empty, then you
still might have a way to reach your missing content.

Go to Finder, and then click on the Go
command. When you go to a folder, you must type the following command:
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Prefe....

If your document is going to be anywhere on
your computer and nothing else can find it, this will lead you to the correct
spot.

The best way to manage this situation is
through prevention. Having a free software tool that can help to recover a lost
Word doc on Mac is just one of many choices for your toolbox. Save frequently
when typing to ensure you have a file, and then consider storing a backup
document on a flash drive to ensure you have the access you need just in case
your computer crashes for some reason.

The post 3 Simple Ways to Recover Lost or Unsaved Word Documents on Mac appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.