iMacNerd
  • Home
  • How To
  • Reviews
  • Softwares
  • Troubleshooting
  • Blog
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • How To
  • Reviews
  • Softwares
  • Troubleshooting
  • Blog
No Result
View All Result
iMacNerd
No Result
View All Result
Home Troubleshooting

5 Practical Ways to Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac

by Sunil Bhuyan
November 27, 2022
in Troubleshooting
Recover unsaved Word document on Mac

One thing we can all agree on is, nobody loves losing their document, especially after they have gone very far. I can relate to losing my document on Microsoft Word on a few occasions, and I know it has never left me happy. 

The latest versions of Microsoft Word for Windows and Mac both offer many juicy features, including one to help you when you accidentally lose your Word Document, keep reading to find out how to access it. 

A ton of reasons must have made you lose your typing progress; it could be due to Mac crashing, freezing, a virus attack, a force restart, or you mistakenly quitted MS word without saving your progress, whatever the reason was, there’s a good chance we might be able to recover it, don’t lose hope we can still get it back. 

How To Recover Unsaved Word Document On Mac?

word document on Mac

There are a ton of ways to recover your unsaved word document on mac, you can check the AutoRecovery folder, the TMP folder, with a system backup, you can also recover your lost word document on Mac from the Trash, or you try a third-party tool. 

We will treat each method in details one after the other; we believe that before you get to the final solution, you would have gotten back your document. 

1. Recover unsaved document with MS Word AutoRecovery

MS Word AutoRecovery

Among the numerous excellent features, the latest MS Word has, an autosave capability is one of the hidden but useful ones. This feature by default autosaves your progress every 10 minutes, so if your computer crashes or suffers any accident that makes Word quit without saving, be rest assured that what you had typed from 10 minutes ago is saved somewhere.

Follow these steps to see how to recover it. 

1. Open Finder on Mac, select Go then Go to Folder. 

Mac-finder-go-to-folder-1

2. In the text field provides, type in  ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click Go. 

locate-folder-on-mac

3. In the AutoRecovery folder, go through all the files that start with “AutoRecovery save of..” then select the file you intend to recover. 

MS-Word-AutoRecovery

4. Right-click on it, select the Rename option, and then add the .doc file extension at the end of the name there and hit the Return/Enter key. 

5. Double click on the file and allow the document to open in Word. 

6. Click the File menu at the top left-hand side of the screen and select the Save As option. 

7. In the field provided, input a new name and select a location to save it then click Save. 

How to change the Autosave frequency 

Saving at a 10 minutes interval might not be enough for most of us, especially those who type pretty fast. Nevertheless, Microsoft allows you to increase or decrease the save interval as you wish. 

1. On your next Word document, click on the Word Menu button. Select Preferences in the drop-down menu.

microsoft-word-preference-option-on-mac

2. In the Output and Sharing section click the Save option, which is represented by a disc icon. 

Output-sharing-save-option-on-mac-for-microsoft-word

3. In the box next to Save every X minutes enter your preferred value. This box is at the bottom of the Save window. 

How-to-change-the-Autosave-frequency-

2. Recover unsaved document from the TMP folder

You can recover lost word documents on Mac from the Temporary folder. A copy of the document might be saved there. Finding the temporary folder is sometimes difficult, but with these steps, you should quickly get it. 

 1. Go to Applications then Utilities next double-click on the Terminal option. Or press command ⌘ + space to open the spotlight and search for the terminal.

mac terminal search using spotlight

 2. In Terminal, type in open $TMPDIR, Terminal then launches the TMP folder, here Mac stores all temporary files. 

open temp directory on mac

 3. Find and open a folder named TemporaryItems then locate the desired unsaved Word file, right-click on it then select Open with and click Microsoft Word from the apps presented. 

Recover-unsaved-document-from-the-TMP-folder

 4. When it opens click on File > Save As and pick a location then give it a new name. 

3. Recover lost Word Document with a Mac Backup

Recover lost Word Document with a Mac Backup

Suppose you are in the habit of taking backups. In that case, it is possible that you can recover your lost document from one of your backups if it was taken before the deletion. 

The idea here is accessing the app or storage device that should have the backup; it could be a backup on your iCloud account, your Time Machine app, an external storage device like your hard drive, or any other means of backup. 

For Time Back machine 

 1. Use the cmd ⌘ + spacebar shortcut keys to launch Spotlight, then type in Time Machine and select it when it shows. 

time machine backup

 2. In the Time Machine, search for the Word Document and hit the Restore button. 

4. Recover lost Word Document on Mac from Trash

Recover lost Word Document on Mac from Trash

Microsoft Word on Mac temporarily saves documents in the Trash folder. Once you are in there, you may be able to locate your lost document and restore it. 

  1. Open Trash
  2. Locate and double-click on a folder named Recover files. 
  3. Search the folder present for your lost document. 

5. Using a Third-party tool

Using a Third-party tool

They are a ton of third-party apps that can help you recover your deleted data. These tools are often premium apps though some offer free trials. A program like Disk Drill is a prominent data recovery tool for mac. It offers many features such as allowing you to preview your recovered files. 

Another data recovery tool you could check out is the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. It claims to have helped over a million users recover their data. It also offers similar features like Disk Drill and its steps are quite easy to follow. 

Conclusion 

Losing an unsaved document isn’t something MS Word users wish for; however, accidents happen from time to time. Suppose you’ve lost your Word Document without saving its progress. All hope isn’t gone as you can recover lost Word documents on your mac by either checking the AutoRecovery folder that is part of the newer versions of Word or checking the Mac TMP folder. 

Also, suppose you have a backup of some sort in your system, cloud storage, or any external device. In that case, you can recover your lost document too. The Trash app is another possible place to check, and the final resolution will be to use a third-party recovery tool. Please share with us what worked for you and thank you for visiting here. 

Also Learn: How to Open Dat Filed on Mac

Related Posts

mac can't connect to icloud
Troubleshooting

Mac can’t connect to iCloud? Here are some common fixes

November 7, 2022
network blocking encrypted dns traffic
Troubleshooting

Fix the “Network Blocking Encrypted DNS Traffic” Issue on iPhone

August 24, 2022
the application is not open anymore
Troubleshooting

6 Ways To Fix “the application is not open anymore” Error

November 27, 2022
MacBook Pro Won't Turn On
Troubleshooting

MacBook Pro Won’t Turn On | Best 17 Fixes

November 27, 2022
MacBook Not Charging
Troubleshooting

9 Practical Ways to fix MacBook not charging When Plugged In

November 27, 2022
Troubleshooting

Mouse Keeps Disappearing On Mac? Here’s 10 Ways to Fix It

February 7, 2021
Next Post
iTunes Error 9006

10 Quick Fixes For the "Apple iTunes Error 9006" on Mac

  • mds_stores

    mds_stores Error on Mac: 5 Real Quick Ways to Fix It

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The 7 Best Audio Interface For Mac in 2022

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How To Print in Black and White on Mac in 2023

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 5 different ways to open DAT files on Mac

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 6 Best TV Tuner For Mac To Watch Live TV

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
iMacNerd

© 2022 iMacNerd.com

Quick Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home – Layout 1
  • Reviews
  • How To

© 2022 iMacNerd.com