6 Best Ways to Recover Unsaved Word Documents

Your unsaved Word document may be lost when Word accidentally closes or the program crashes. In such a case, you may have to work on the document from scratch, which is quite cumbersome.

However, you can try importing the Word document before starting a new document. Here’s how to recover unsaved Word documents from your computer.

Search for the Original Document in the Start Menu

This is the first action you should take when you lose your Word document. The steps are pretty simple:

Stage 1: Type the name of the document in the Windows Search bar and press Enter.

Step 2: If the results show the file in the list of documents, double click on it and it will open in Word.

Search for .WBK or .ASD Extension

A file with the .WBK extension is a Word backup, while the .ASD extension represents an auto-saved file. You can search for a backup or an automatically saved copy of your Word file using the following steps:

Stage 1: Type it into the Windows search bar. Select wbk or .asd and tap Enter.

Step 2: Check the search results to see if you have any files represented this way:

• Backup copy: Backup + Name of missing file.
• Autosaved file: .asd extension.

Stage 3: Double-click the filename to open it.

It is important to note that for a Word file to have the .wbk extension, you must have the backup copy function enabled in Word. Here’s how to check if the function is enabled:

Stage 1: Start Word.

Step 2: Click File.

Stage 3: Choose Options.

Step 4: Click on Advanced.

Step 5: Scroll down to the menu titled Save and make sure to check the box that says Always make a backup copy.

Step 6: Select OK to save the changes.

Using the Task Manager

You can use the Task Manager in Windows to recover an unsaved file. However, this requires terminating every Word-related process and restarting Word. Here’s how it works:

Stage 1: Start Task Manager

Step 2: Click the Processes tab.

Stage 3: Check Microsoft Word under the Applications section. If the application is displayed, right-click it and select End Task.

Step 4: Under the background processes section, check Word related processes. If a process is displayed, right-click it and choose End Task.

Step 5: Close the Task Manager.

Step 6: Restart Word to check if the missing file is displayed under the Document Recovery pane. This pane is located to the left of the Word window.

Step 7: If there are files in the recovery partition, double-click on them to open them.

Search for Temporary Files

Another way to find unsaved or corrupted Word documents is to search for temporary files. These types of files have the .tmp extension. Here’s how to find temporary files on our desktop:

Stage 1: Type .tmp or ~ in the Windows search bar and then tap the Enter button.

Step 2: Click the Documents tab.

Stage 3: Scroll through the list of search results. Do this to find the names of the files that correspond to the last dates and times you worked on the document.

Step 4: If you identify the file, start Word and click the File tab.

Step 5: Click Open and select the Folders tab.

Step 6: Navigate to the location of the .tmp file you found earlier and select the file to open.

Use the Manage Documents Feature in Microsoft Word

Word has a feature called Manage Document that can be used to recover unsaved files. Here’s how it works:

Stage 1: Start Word

Step 2: Select the File tab on the Ribbon.

Stage 3: Select Info.

Step 4: Select Manage Documents.

Step 5: Select Recover Unsaved Documents.

Search for the Recycle Bin

If a file has been accidentally deleted, it can be recovered if the Recycle Bin has not been emptied. Here’s how to do this:

Stage 1: Start the Recycle Bin.

Step 2: Search the document list for the file name.

Stage 3: If you find the file, right-click it and choose Restore.

Using the Microsoft Windows Recovery Tool

If you forgot to save your Word document, you should be able to find your unsaved Word document using any of the methods described above. However, if you accidentally delete a file and the file is not in the Recycle Bin, you can use the Microsoft Windows Recovery Tool to restore it.