I deleted word by mistake

Have you deleted a Word document by mistake? Here we show you how to restore it simply and quickly.

Were you working on a Word document and the app quit unexpectedly, or did you delete the file you had saved on your computer? Let us tell you that all is not lostbecause there are different methods that you can carry out to recover those Word documents that were deleted by mistake.

In the latest versions of Wordthose that went on the market from 2010 onwards, have a function that automatically saves all data of a document every 10 minutes (a kind of backup).

This function is activated by default, so it is not necessary to follow any tutorial for it to work correctly on our computer. Of course, you must have some technical knowledge to be able to find those Word documents that were stored on our PC for this tool.

Likewise, in the event that said characteristic of “auto save” fail, Other methods can be done to recover Word files deleted by mistake. If you are interested in knowing this information in detail, all you have to do is continue reading our article.

Recovering Word files that have been deleted by mistake is possible

Before we show you all the methods that exist to recover a Word file that was deleted, it is important to clarify that they only work in recent versions of Word (2010 onwards).

If you have installed a version prior to the one mentioned in the paragraph above, we advise you to use a program to recover deleted files. The same They tend to be very effective when restoring documents of this style.

Restore a backup of a Word document

If you were editing a document in Word and the app stopped respondingor your computer restarted automatically, you will have to carry out all the steps that we leave you below to be able to recover it:

• Open the Word app and click on “Blank document” (do not open the program from a document that you have stored on your PC).

• Hit the tab that says “Archive” (it is located at the top left of the program).

• Click on the option that says “Recover unsaved documents”.

• Select the Word file you want to restore (If you have many saves in that folder, we recommend opening them one at a time.)

• Word will restore the file that hasn’t been saved to your PC. Remember to hit the button “Save as” to make that document visible in the folder where you store your Word files.

Recover a deleted Word document

In case you, a friend or a co-worker have deleted a Word file by mistake, and on top of that the recycle bin in which the said file was located was emptied, Don’t worry! Well Microsoft’s operating system,Windows,DIt has a function that allows you to restore previous versions from any folder.

In order to use this tool correctly, we advise you to follow all these steps:

• Make a right click on the folder where the Word file was saved.

• A menu will be displayed with several options, click on the one that says “More options” to access the advanced settings section.

• Therefore, you will have to click on “Restore previous versions”.
• And, as the last step, you will have to restore a previous version to be able to recover the Word document which was removed.

It is important to clarify that for this Word trick to work, restore points must be created in Windows. Although they are usually generated automatically every week, there are times when the restore point failed to recognize the Word file that was deleted.

Faced with these scenarios, it is best to use a program to recover files, since this type of application analyzes the internal disk of a PC completely, and allows you to recover any type of file that has been deleted (documents of this style are much easier to restore with these kinds of programs.

I deleted my Excel and Word while I was doing a ‘cleaning up’ my add/REMOVE programs and probably something else by mistake, I have Window XP Home edition, but before to make it worse, I need to know what to do to get my excel and word backward.

Thank you

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Everyone from college-goer to content writers to business executives knows the panic of their Word document disappearing when it’s just seconds away from being completed.

Fortunately, there are various ways to recover Word documents lost due to accidental deletion, system crashes, or malware attacks. Here’s the simple DIY guide which explains how to recover permanently deleted Word documents in Windows 10/11.

Is it Possible to Recover Deleted Word Files?

Losing saved or unsaved Word documents can be terrible when you rely on MS Word for personal or professional tasks. But the recovery of deleted Word files is possible, and that too, for free.

Moreover, following extra precautions may ensure safe and efficient recovery of Word files. First, initiate the recovery process right away when you lose a file by first checking the Recycle Bin.

However, if you use the Shift + Delete key to remove the data, you have to switch to professional data recovery software for retrieving deleted Word files.

How to recover permanently deleted word documents?

Let’s dive into a few effective DIY methods to recover deleted Word document files in Windows 10/11.

1. Search for Auto Recover Files

Use the AutoRecover feature of Microsoft Word to recover word documents lost due to system crashes or human error. When AutoRecover is enabled, Word keeps saving your files at regular intervals while you’re working on it. This feature eliminates the need to save the document physically, and a temporary folder is created to recover the word document during any data loss situation.

Now follow these steps to search for auto-recovered files:

• Type .asd in the Windows search bar.

• Select the desired file based on the ‘Date-modified’ and open the file in MS Word.

• Then save the file at your desired location by clicking on the Save button.

Note:  Enable ‘Autorecover’ feature in word document:  Click on File > Options > Save. Then select the minutes for the ‘Save Autocorrect information’ option and click OK to save the changes.

2. Restart Microsoft Word

While working on Word, if your system witnesses an unexpected crash, but the Autorecover feature is turned on, you can easily recover deleted Word documents. Follow these quick steps:

• Try opening Word Document once your system restarts.
• The Document Recovery panel will be visible on the left side.

• Here you will see the Autosaved versions of your File with the timestamp.
• Open the version you want to recover and Save it.

• Then a pop-up will appear; choose the correct option depending upon your requirement.

3. Search and Restore the Word Auto-Backup File

The ‘Backup copy’ feature in Microsoft Word creates the backup copy of your File. It can recover permanently deleted Word documents during unexpected system errors, if enabled. Now, follow these steps to search for the auto backup file that has .wbk extensions:

• Type .wbk in the Windows Search bar at the bottom of your Windows.

• Choose the auto-backup file from the scanned list.
• Assign a name to the file and choose the desired location for saving this file.
• Click Save to save the file.

4. Recover from Temporary Files

The feature of creating temporary files while your system is in running condition works best in Windows for recovery purpose. For example, if you are opening a Word document, Windows creates a hidden temporary file at the location like – “%systemdrive%WindowsTemp,” “%userprofile%AppDataLocalTemp.” Then, recover deleted Word Documents from these temporary file locations.

• Click on the Search icon and select Document.

• Type .tmp in the search field and click Open.

• Scroll through the scanned result and check for the files that match your requirement.

5. Restore Deleted Word Documents from OneDrive

If you have the OneDrive or Microsoft 365 subscription, enable the sync-up feature to save your files in the OneDrive account instead of saving them locally on your PC. Moreover, OneDrive has its own Recycle Bin to recover the permanently deleted Word Documents.

• Go to OneDrive and sign in to your account.

• Navigate to Recycle Bin and open it.
• Select the Word documents you wish to recover and click Restore.

5. Recover Word Documents from Recycle Bin

Recycle Bin temporarily stores your deleted or lost files so that you can restore them easily within 30 days. Because after 30 days, these files are permanently removed from the system.

• Open the Recycle Bin folder.

• Browse through the files to check for the files you need.
• Select the desired Word file and right-click on it to choose the ‘Restore’ option.

• The recovered Word file is saved at its original location.

7. Use Data Recovery Software for Windows

Use Stellar Data Recovery for Windows to recover deleted, shift-deleted, corrupted Word Documents, photos, and videos from all types of internal and external storage drives. It ensures 100% data retrieval in all data loss scenarios like corruption, accidental deletion, and virus attack.

Follow these steps to recover permanently deleted Word documents using this efficient data recovery software:

• Launch the Stellar Data Recovery for Windows after installing it.
• In ‘Select What to Recover’ screen, select Office Documents and click Next.

• Now select the location from where you want to recover and click Scan.

• Preview the recovered files from the scanned list and click Recover.

• Now, browse the location where you want to save the recovered files.

How to Prevent Your Word Files from Being Lost or Deleted?

Losing the Word file in which you’ve spent so much time working can be annoying. Although there are various ways to recover deleted Word documents in Windows 10/11, taking precautions to prevent data loss scenarios will save your time and effort.

• Enable the Autorecover feature in Word to help you recover documents lost due to user errors or system crashes.
• Keep multiple backups of your Word documents across different devices.
• Never store your Word documents on the same drive as your operating system, as system failure and malware attacks affect this drive and can lead to data loss. Instead, save your word files on a separate drive.
• Use advanced options like versioning and tracked changes in MS Word to avoid user errors. These features allow you to record the changes and return to any particular version without losing data.

Conclusion

Whether your Microsoft Word document was deleted or corrupted, it can be recovered regardless of how they were lost. These data loss scenarios are unpredictable and can happen to anyone anytime. Therefore, enabling the Autorecover option in Word is recommended, and even taking backup of your files regularly is recommended. Because when your system is armed with regular backups, Word file recovery is easily possible. Moreover, you can always use Stellar Data Recovery for Windows software for flawless recovery of Word files, videos, PDFs, music, and other data.

FAQ About Deleted or Unsaved Word Document Recovery

The Microsoft Word document format is extremely popular and is considered the de-facto standard by many users. Many document requests include a reminder to send the work as a DOC or DOCX Microsoft Word file. An inability to create documents in this format can definitely hinder your ability to get your work done.

There are some features of Microsoft Word that make it more useful in certain collaborative situations and some users find easier to work with than Pages. You might also have Word files on your Mac if you are an Office 365 user.

You might need to recover a Word document on a Mac for a number of reasons:

• ❌ Accidentally deleting files from your hard disk.
• 💥 The application crashes while you are working on a file.
• 🔨 Damage to your hard disk or storage device that leads to corrupt or missing files.
• 🦠 Infection with a virus or malware that causes data loss.

#1 Recover Unsaved Word Docs on a Mac with AutoRecovery

Microsoft Word for Mac has an AutoRecovery feature that can help you recover unsaved Word documents. This option is turned on by default when you install the application and automatically saves a copy of open documents every 10 minutes.

You can modify this setting to have the app save at a shorter or longer time interval if you like. If the application or your computer happens to crash while you are working on a Word document, you can recover it to the state it was in when the last automatic save was performed.

Steps to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac:

Step 1. Open a Finder window on your Mac.

Step 2. Select the entire computer as the location.

That will be searched and enter ‘AutoRecovery’ in the Search field. You will be presented with a list of files. It begins with ‘AutoRecovery save of’ followed by the name of the Word document you are trying to recover.

Step 3. Double-click on the file to be recovered. This will open the file in Microsoft Word.

Step 4. Select the File menu and choose Save As. Pick a new name for the document and a folder in which it will be stored and click the Save button.

#2 Recover Deleted Word Files from a Backup or the Trash

Once you have exited Microsoft Word and saved your document there are no longer any means to automatically recover a lost or deleted file. If you accidentally delete some files or are subject to a data loss scenario due to a faulty disk, there are ways that may allow you to get your files back.

Way 1. Recover deleted Word documents from a Trash Bin

Files that have been deleted from the folder will no longer be visible in that location. They are, however, not totally removed from your Mac until you empty the Trash.

1. Open the Trash folder by clicking its icon in the lower-left corner of your Mac’s screen.
2. Right-click on the file name and select “Put Back”. This will return the file to its original location.

Way 2. Recover deleted Word documents from a backup

Hopefully, you are in the habit of taking regular backups of your Mac. You can use your backup to recover lost Word documents as long as the backup was made prior to the file deletion. You will need to use the media on which you save your backups and the program, perhaps Time Machine, that you use to back-up your computer.

There is still a way to recover deleted Word files even if you do not have a backup of the file in question, and it is not available through AutoRecovery or your Trash bin, by using data recovery software.

#3 Recover Deleted Word Documents using Disk Drill

Word document recovery software can prove to be instrumental in recovering those important Word files that have mysteriously vanished from your computer. It employs deep scanning technology to find deleted files and file fragments that are still physically on your computer’s storage but are no longer visible to the operating system.

Follow these steps to recover a Word document:

1. Download and install the free version of Disk Drill.

2. Launch the application and select the disk on which your lost files were last seen.

3. Click the ‘Search for lost data’ button to start a scan of your storage device.

4. Use filters to search for specific types of files and speed up the scan. The application will return a list of the files that can be recovered using the tool.

5. If the preview indicates that the files you need can be recovered, you need to upgrade to the Pro version of Disk Drill to perform the recovery.

6. Select a location where you will store the files.

7. Click ‘Recover’ a second time to restore your lost Word files to the new location you have selected.

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#4 Recover Lost Word docs from the Mac Temporary Folder

Your Mac’s temporary folder may have the lost Word file you need. Try the following procedure to check the contents of the temporary folder.

1. Open Terminal.
2. Type: cd $TMPDIR.
3. Type: ls to display the files. Look in the TemporaryItems subfolder for your document.
4. Search for the lost file. If you find the Word doc you are looking for, protect it by saving a copy to a new storage location.

#5 Restore a previous version of a Word file from within the Word app

☁️ OneDrive Method

The following steps outline the procedure you should use to attempt a recovery of a previous version of a file from within Word using OneDrive.

Use these steps to perform the recovery : 

1. Open the most recent version of the Word file you want to recover.
2. In Word go to File > Browse Version History.
3. You will see a panel displayed that shows all previously saved versions of the file.
4. Select the previous version you wish to recover and choose Restore to complete the process.

🩺 AutoRecovery Method

If Word crashes you have not saved the file and AutoRecovery is turned on, use these steps:

1. Restart the Word application.
2. The app will automatically recover and display the saved document.

#6 Recover a Lost Word Document From a Time Machine Backup

If you’re using Time Machine to back up your Mac, you may be able the recover your lost Word doc from the backup media.

Use the following steps to recover a lost Word file from a Time Machine backup.

1. Connect the storage device that contains the backup files created by Time Machine to your computer.
2. Open a Finder window in the folder that previously stored the lost Word file.
3. Launch Time Machine by clicking the Time Machine icon on the menu bar.
4. Search through the snapshots and backups with the timeline and arrows to find the Word doc you want to restore.
5. Highlight the file you want to recover and click the Restore button. The doc will be restored to its original location.

Recover text from a damaged file in Word

You can attempt to force Word to try to repair a damaged file. Use the following steps to try this recovery method.

1. In Word, click File > Open.
2. Select the damaged file from the dialog box.
3. Click the arrow on the Open button to display the submenu.
4. Click Repair or Recover Text option.

Check out this Microsoft support page for more information on handling damaged Word documents.

Tips to Help Avoid Losing Important Word Files

Here are a few tips that might help you avoid losing Word files. If the files contain important data and hold value for you, we suggest you take the necessary steps to protect them against accidental loss.

• ⏸️ Pause before manually emptying the Trash – Take a minute to see what items you are about to delete. It’s very possible that you can rescue a mistakenly deleted file easily from the Trash at this point, rather than with data recovery software after it has been emptied.
• 🛡️ Run Antivirus software – Malware and virus infections can lead to data loss. Run a reputable antivirus tool and make sure it’s always kept updated.
• 🔋 Consider a surge protector – Power spikes and surges can lead to unexpected system crashes that cause you to lose data. Using a reliable surge protector can help eliminate that source of lost Word documents. 
• 💾 Turn on AutoRecovery – This Microsoft document explains everything you need to know about this feature. You should turn it on and use it to automatically protect your Word files.
• 💎 Configure Guaranteed Recovery – Guaranteed Recovery is a free data protection tool available with the trial version of Disk Drill. It allows you to configure specific files and folders for additional protection from accidental deletion and provides a one-click data recovery method.

Video Tutorial:

Disk Drill will find any lost files that can still be recovered, in some cases, even overwritten data can be recovered. It’s an excellent data recovery tool that will allow you to restore those lost Word files to your machine and let you get on with your work.

FAQ

To recover a previous version of a Word document on a Mac:

1. Connect your Time Machine backup disk if it’s not already connected to your Mac.
2. Open the folder that contained the deleted Word document.
3. Click the Time Machine icon located in the Menu Bar and choose Enter Time Machine.
4. Locate the Word document you want to recover using the timeline on the right edge of the screen.
5. Click Restore to restore the selected Word document.

Yes, there are multiple ways to recover an overwritten Word document on Mac:

1. Use Time Machine to recover an older version of the overwritten document.
2. Open the current version of the overwritten document in Word and recover an earlier version using Version History.
3. Recover the document from a cloud backup.
4. Go through your backup devices to see if you have a backup of the original Word document.

Word on Mac has a special feature called AutoRecovery that is turned on by default and periodically creates a copy of the document you’re working on. So if suddenly your Mac shuts down or Word crashes, you’ll be able to use this tool to recover your unsaved document.

Usually, the unsaved document should open when you launch Word on your Mac after the shutdown. But if it didn’t, follow these steps to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac via AutoRecovery:

1. Open Finder.
2. From the top menu, head to Go > Go to Folder.
3. Copy and paste this folder path in the window (replace username with your own username): /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft /Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
4. Click Go.
5. Once you’ve found the needed file, double-click it to open.
6. Click File > Save As. Type in the name for your file and choose a location for it. When ready, click Save.

If you’ve been backing up your Mac with Time Machine frequently, you can use the backups to recover the Word document. Follow these steps to do it:

1. Connect the drive containing your Time Machine backup to your Mac.
2. From the menu on the top of the screen, click the Time Machine icon and choose Enter Time Machine.
3. Open the folder where the file should be located. Use the arrows on the right side to choose the needed backup version and search for the lost file.
4. Click the needed Word document and click Restore.

The AutoRecovery files go to a hidden folder on your Mac, which is why it will be almost impossible to find such files by simply navigating through Finder. To find the unsaved Word documents on your Mac, head to Go > Go to Folder and enter this folder path (replace username with your own username):

/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft /Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

It’s possible you can’t find a Word file on your Mac because of one of these reasons:

• You forgot the location where you saved the document;
• You deleted the document by mistake;
• Word or your Mac unexpectedly crashed, and you didn’t save the document before that;
• Your Mac got infected with a virus that caused data loss;

Whatever the reason is, the easiest and quickest way to find the lost Word document on your Mac is to use data recovery software.