How to recover a lost file in Word 2002 (316951)

SUMMARY

Microsoft Word documents can be lost in certain situations. For example, the document may be lost if an error occurs that forces Word to quit, if you experience a power interruption while editing, or if you close the document without saving changes. This article explains steps that you can use to try to recover the lost document.

NOTE: The whole document may be lost if you have not recently saved the document. If you have saved your document, you may lose only the changes that you made since the last save. Note that some lost documents may not be recoverable.

Use the following methods in the order in which they are presented, as appropriate to your situation.

back to the top

Search for Original Document

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Click Start, click Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type the file name.
3. In the Look in box, click My Computer.
4. Click Search Now. If the Search Results box does not contain the file, proceed with the following steps to search for all Word Documents.
   
   
5. In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.doc.
6. Click Search Now.
   
   If the Search Results box does not contain the file, view the Recycle Bin. In the Recycle Bin, follow these steps:
   1. On the desktop, double-click Recycle Bin.
   2. On the View menu, click Details.
   3. On the View menu, click Arrange Icons, and then click by Delete Date.
   4. Scroll through the files. If you find the document that you are looking for, right-click the document, and then click Restore.
      
      This returns the document to its original location.

back to the top

Search for Word Backup Files

If the Always create backup copy setting is selected (on the Tools menu, click Options to view the Save tab), there may be a backup copy of the file. Follow these steps to find the file:

1. Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
2. Search for files with the .wbk extension.
   
   If you find any files that have the name "Backup of" followed by the name of the missing file, follow these steps:
   
   1. Start Word. On the File menu, click Open.
   2. Point to the arrow in the File of type box, click All Files *.*, select the file, and then click Open.
   If there is not a .wbk file located in the original folder, follow these steps to search the computer for any .wbk files:
   1. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
   2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.WBK.
   3. In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.
   4. Click Search Now.
3. If you find any files that have the name "Backup of" followed by the name of the missing file, follow these steps:
   1. Start Word. On the File menu, click Open.
   2. Point to the arrow in the File of type box, click All Files *.*, select the file, and then click Open.

back to the top

Search for AutoRecover Files

If the preceding method does not locate the missing file, search for AutoRecover files. By default, Word searches for AutoRecover files each time that it starts, and then displays all that it finds in the Document Recovery task pane.

Use Task Manager

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the Windows Security dialog box, click Task Manager.
2. On the Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe or Microsoft Word, and then click End Process. Repeat this step until you have quit all instances of Winword.exe and Word.
3. Close the Windows Task Manager dialog box, and then start Word.
   
   If Word finds the AutoRecover file, the Document Recovery task pane opens on the left side of the screen, and the missing document is listed as "document name [Original]" or as "document name [Recovered]". If this occurs, double-click the file in the Document Recovery pane, click Save As on the File menu, and then save the document as a .doc file. Manually change the extension to .doc, if you have to.

Search Manually

If the Recovery pane does not open, manually search for AutoRecover files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the File Locations tab, double-click AutoRecover files, note the path, click Cancel, and then click Close.
   
   NOTE: In the Modify Location dialog box, you may have to click the down arrow in the Folder name list to see the whole path to your AutoRecover files.
3. Quit Word.
4. Locate the AutoRecover file location.
5. Look for files that end in .asd.

Search for .asd Files

If you cannot locate an .asd file in the location identified in the Folder name list, search your whole drive for any .asd files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.ASD.
3. In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. Click Search Now.
   
   If you find any files with the .asd extension, follow these steps:
   1. Start Word.
   2. On the File menu, click Open.
   3. In the File of type list, click All Files *.*
   4. Locate and select the .asd file.
   5. Click Open.
   6. Restart the computer.
   7. Start Word.
      
      If Word finds the AutoRecover file, the Document Recovery task pane opens on the left side of the screen, and the missing document is listed as "document name [Original]" or as "document name [Recovered]". If this occurs, double-click the file in the Document Recovery task pane, click Save As on the File menu, and then save the document as a .doc file. Manually change the extension to .doc, if you have to.

NOTE: If you find an AutoRecover file in the Recovery pane that does not open correctly, proceed to the "How to Troubleshoot Damaged Documents" section of this article for additional information about how to open damaged files.

back to the top

Search for Temporary Files

If the preceding methods do not find the file, try to recover temporary files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type *.TMP.
3. In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.
4. If the Search Options are not visible, click Search Options.
5. Click to select the Date check box, click in the last n days, and then change n to the number of days since you last opened the file.
6. Click Search Now.
7. On the View menu, click Details. On the View menu, point to Arrange Icons, and then click by Date.
8. Scroll through the files, searching for files that match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you are looking for, skip to the "How to Troubleshoot Damaged Documents" section of this article for more information about how to recover information from the file.

back to the top

Search for ~ Files

Some temporary file names start with the tilde (~) symbol. To find those files, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type ~*.*.
3. Click Search Now.
4. On the View menu, click Details. On the View menu, point to Arrange Icons, and then click by Date.
5. Scroll through the files for files that match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you are looking for, proceed to the How to Troubleshoot Damaged Documents section of this article for more information about how to recover information from the file.

For more information about how Word creates and uses temporary files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: back to the top

How to Troubleshoot Damaged Documents

Microsoft Word 2002 tries to automatically recover a damaged document if it detects a problem with the file. You can also "force" Word to try to recover a document when you open it. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Open.
2. In the File of type list, click All Files *.*.
3. In the Open dialog box, select your document.
4. Point to the arrow on the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

For more information about document recovery, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type recovery in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.
Sometimes you may find a file that you cannot open. Or you may open the file, but the document is damaged. For more information about how to troubleshoot files that are damaged or will not open, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: back to the top

More Information

The AutoRecover feature in Word is designed to perform an emergency backup of open documents when an error occurs. Some errors can interfere with the creation of an AutoRecover file. The AutoRecover feature is not a substitute for saving your file.

Microsoft currently does not provide any utilities designed to recover deleted documents. However, some third-party utilities that are designed to recover deleted documents may be available on the Internet.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.


back to the top