Note: In some cases, macOS might not have saved your unsaved file and “Recovered Items” might not appear. Open the folder named “Recovered Items” and look for your Word file.Open Trash by clicking it from the dock.Like the TMP folder, macOS salvages the unsaved files and places them into the Recovered Items folder. Recovering Lost Word Document from Recovered Items in TrashĪlternatively, if Method 2 didn’t work, you can check if your lost Word document was saved in the Recovered Items folder in Trash.
Locate files with the “Word Work File” filename, and you can open them using TextEdit.
Replace with your Mac username and paste the path into the Finder window and hit Enter. Or /Users//Library/Containers/Microsoft Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery You can find your AutoRecovered files on your Mac by switching to Finder and click Go > Go To Folder (SHIFT + COMMAND + G) and enter Word’s AutoRecover folder path.ĭepending on the version of Microsoft Office installed on your Mac the path will be either /Users//Library/Containers//Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
Here are the steps: Locate AutoRecovery folder Otherwise, you can expect to find your unsaved word document in its AutoRecovery folder. You will see a panel of AutoRecovered items on the left panel of your Word document along with the original file, and you can choose which one you wish to save. Once you booted your Mac back from a power failure or other unexpected shutdown, you can check if Word has saved the AutoRecovery file by opening the program. So, locating your lost or unsaved Word documents can be easily found using three methods described below. It has its own dedicated folders to save these temporary files in case of unexpected computer crashes. In most cases, you can find your unsaved Word file in the AutoRecovery folder which serves as a temporary backup of your documents before you manually save them.Īdditionally, macOS has its own ways of saving unsaved progress when it crashes by creating temporary files on the programs you are working on.
#WORD FOR MAC AUTOSAVE OFF SOFTWARE#
However, losing unsaved changes in your Word document doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to pick up where you left off after booting back your Mac.Īlso, if you’re not planning to spend time and money to use third-party software in recovering your lost files, there are various ways that you can recover them for free.Įven if Mac freezes or Microsoft Word stops responding there is a high chance that the work is not lost. This can happen by unexpected shutdowns or power outages, as well as program or computer crashes. Losing unsaved progress in your word document is one of the most infuriating things that can happen to anyone.