How to recover a missing Word document

Method 1: Search the original document

To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Microsoft Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type the name of the document in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.

If the document is included in the Files list, double-click the document to open it in Word.

If the document is not included in the files list, go to step 3.

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type *.doc in the Start search box, and then press Enter.

Note: For Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents, type *.docx.

If the file is not included in the files list, proceed to Method 2.

Microsoft Windows XP

Click Start, then search, and then file or folder.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type the file name.

In the Look in box, click My Computer.

Click Search Now. If the file is not included in the search Results box, continue to the following steps to search for all Word documents.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type *.doc. For Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents, type *.docx.

Click Search Now.

If the file is not included in the Search Results box, check the Recycle Bin. To do this, follow these steps:

On the desktop, double-click Recycle Bin.

On the View menu, click More Information.

On the View menu, click Arrange Icons, and then click Delete Date.

Browse for the file. If you find the document you are looking for, right-click the document, and then click Restore.

This procedure returns the document to its original location.

Method 1: Search the original document

To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Microsoft Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type the name of the document in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.

If the document is included in the Files list, double-click the document to open it in Word.

If the document is not included in the files list, go to step 3.

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type *.doc in the Start search box, and then press Enter.

Note: For Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents, type *.docx.

If the file is not included in the files list, proceed to Method 2.

Microsoft Windows XP

Click Start, then search, and then file or folder.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type the file name.

In the Look in box, click My Computer.

Click Search Now. If the file is not included in the search Results box, continue to the following steps to search for all Word documents.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type *.doc. For Microsoft Office Word 2007 documents, type *.docx.

Click Search Now.

If the file is not included in the Search Results box, check the Recycle Bin. To do this, follow these steps:

On the desktop, double-click Recycle Bin.

On the View menu, click More Information.

On the View menu, click Arrange Icons, and then click Delete Date.

Browse for the file. If you find the document you are looking for, right-click the document, and then click Restore.

This procedure returns the document to its original location.

: Search Word Backup files

If the "Keep Backup" option is selected, a backup copy of the file may be available.

Note: To find this option, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Save tab.

To find a backup copy of a file, follow these steps:

Locate the folder where you last saved the missing files.

Search for files with the. wbk file name extension.

If you find any files that have the name "Backup of" followed by a missing file, follow these steps, depending on the version of Word that you are running.

Word 2007

Start Word 2007.

Click Office buttons, and then click Open.

In the file type list, click All files.

Click the backup file that you found, and then click Open.

Microsoft Word 2002 or Microsoft Office Word 2003

Start Word.

On the File menu, click Open.

Point to the arrow in the File type box, click All Files (*.*), select the file, and then click Open.

If you do not have a. wbk file in the original folder, search the computer for all. wbk files. To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type *.WBK in the Start search box, and then press Enter.

If the backup file is in the files list, repeat the steps in step 2 ("Search for files with the. wbk file name extension") to open the file.

If the backup file is not included in the files list, proceed to Method 3.

Windows XP

Click Start, point to Search, and then click Files or Folders.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type *. WBK.

In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.

Click Search Now.

: Search for AutoRecover files

If you do not find the missing file in the above method, search for the AutoRecover file. By default, Word searches for AutoRecover files each time it starts, and then displays all the files it finds in the Document Recovery task pane.

Step 1: Use Task Manager

Right-click the taskbar, and then click Task Manager.

On the Processes tab, click any instance of Winword.exe or Microsoft Word, and then click End Process. Repeat this step until you exit Winword.exe and all instances of Word.

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 in the form "< document name > [Original]" or "< document name > [Restore]". If this happens, 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. If necessary, change the extension to. doc manually.

Step 2: Manual Search

If the Recover pane is not open, manually search for the AutoRecover file. To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Word that you are running.

Word 2007

Click Office buttons, and then click Word Options.

In the Navigation Pane, click Save.

In the AutoRecover file location box, note the path, and then click Cancel.

Closes Word.

Open the folder that you noted in step 3.

Finds a file with a name ending with. asd.

Word 2003 and Word 2002

On the Tools menu, click Options.

Click the File Location 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 full path of the AutoRecover file.

Closes Word.

Find the location of the AutoRecover file.

Finds a file with a name ending with. asd.

Step 3: Search for. asd files

If you cannot find the. asd file in the location identified in the folder name list, search the entire drive for all. asd files. To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type. ASD in the Start search box, and then press Enter.

If the AutoRecover file is not included in the files list, continue to method 4.

Windows XP

Click Start, then search, and then file or folder.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type *.ASD.

In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.

Click Search Now.

If you find any files with the. asd extension, follow these steps, depending on the version of Word that you are running.

Word 2007

Start Word 2007.

Click Office buttons, and then click Open.

In the file type list, click All files.

Click the. asd file that you found, and then click Open.

Word 2002 or Word 2003

Start Word.

On the File menu, click Open.

In the file type list, click All Files (*.*).

Locate and select the. asd file.

Click Open.

Restart your computer.

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 in the form "< document name > [Original]" or "< document name > [restore]." If this happens, 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. If necessary, change the extension to. doc manually.

Note: If you find that the AutoRecover file in the Recovery pane is not open correctly, continue with Method 6: How to troubleshoot document corruption to get more information about how to open a corrupted file.

: Searching for temporary files

If you cannot find the file using the above method, try to recover the temporary file. To do this, follow these steps, depending on the version of Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type. tmp in the Start search box, and then press Enter.

On the Show only toolbar, click Other.

Browse the file to search for a file that matches the date and time that you edited the document several times. If you find the document you are looking for, continue with Method 6: How to troubleshoot document corruption to get more information about how to recover information from the file.

Windows XP

Click Start, then search, and then file or folder.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type *. Tmp.

In the Look in box, point to the arrow, and then click My Computer.

If the search options do not appear, click Search Options.

Click to select the Date check box, click Past n Days, and then change N to the number of days after the file was last opened.

Click Search Now.

On the View menu, click More Information. On the View menu, point to Arrange Icons, and then click By Date.

Browse the file to search for a file that matches the date and time that you edited the document several times. If you find the document you are looking for, continue with Method 6: How to troubleshoot document corruption to get more information about how to recover information from the file.

Method 5: Search for "~" Files

Some temporary file names start with a tilde (~). To find these files, follow these steps, depending on the version of Windows that you are running.

Windows Vista

Click "Start"

Close this picture and expand the picture.

, type ~ In the Start search box, and then press Enter.

On the Show only toolbar, click Other.

Browse the file to search for a file that matches the date and time that you edited the document several times. If you find the document you are looking for, continue with Method 6: How to troubleshoot document corruption to get more information about how to recover information from the file.

Windows XP

Click Start, then search, and then file or folder.

In the name of the file or folder to search for box, type ~*.*.

Click Search Now.

On the View menu, click More Information. On the View menu, point to Arrange Icons, and then click By Date.

Browse the file to search for a file that matches the date and time that you edited the document several times. If you find the document you are looking for, continue with Method 6: How to troubleshoot document corruption to get more information about how to recover information from the file.