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If you're looking. For Office 2013, choose Start and scroll to the Microsoft Office 2013 group. If you still can't find your Office shortcuts, do an Office Online Repair. See Repair an Office application. Watch the video or follow the steps below the video to learn how to find your Office applications in Windows 8. Describes a range of methods to locate and recover lost Microsoft Word documents. Discusses Word 2002, Word 2003, Word 2007, and Word 2010 under various versions of Windows. How to recover a lost Word document - Office Microsoft Docs. You may still be able to locate and revive the Word document by taking certain precautions ahead of time and looking for the right files in the right places. How to find and recover a lost.
-->Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
If you're looking for recent Word document recovery info, see:
- Recover your Office files (For versions through Office 2019)
For more on earlier versions of Word, see:
Resolution
To fix this problem, use the following methods in the order in which they're presented, as appropriate for your situation.
Method 1: Search for the original document
To do this, follow these steps, as appropriate for the version of Windows that you're running.
Windows 10 and Windows 7
- Select Start, type the document name in the Start Search box (.doc or .docx), and then press Enter. If the File list contains the document, double-click the document to open it in Word.
- If the File list does not contain the file, go to Method 2.
Method 2: Search for Word backup files
Word backup file names end with the .wbk extension. If the Always create backup copy option is selected, there may be a backup copy of the file.
Note
To locate this option:
- Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013:Select File, then Options, and then Advanced. Scroll down to the Save section and select Always create backup copy.
- Word 2010:Select File, then Options. In the Save tab, select Always create backup copy.
To find the backup copy of the file, follow these steps:
- Locate the folder in which you last saved the missing file.
- Search for files that have the .wbk file name extension.
If there's no .wbk file in the original folder, search the computer for any .wbk files. To do this, follow these steps:
Windows 10 and Windows 7
- Select Start, type *.wbk in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
- If the File list contains the backup file, repeat the steps in step 2 ('Search for files that have the .wbk file name extension') to open the file. If the File list does not contain the backup file, go to Method 3.
If you find any files that have the name 'Backup of' followed by the name of the missing file, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running.
Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013
- On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse. (In some versions, select Computer and then Browse.)
- In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
- Select the backup file that you found, and then select Open.
Word 2010
- On the File menu, select Open.
- In the Files of type list (All Word documents), select All Files.
- Select the backup file that you found, and then select Open.
Microsoft Word For Mac Student
Method 3: Search for AutoRecover files
AutoRecover file names end with the .asd extension. By default, Word searches for AutoRecover files every time that it starts, and then it displays all that it finds in the Document Recovery task pane.
- Use Word to automatically find the AutoRecover files. To do this, follow these steps:
- Right-click the taskbar, and then select Task Manager.
- On the Processes tab, select any instance of Winword.exe or Microsoft Word, and then select End Task or End Process. Repeat this step until you have exited all instances of Winword.exe and 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 as 'document name [Original]' or as 'document name [Recovered].' If this occurs, double-click the file in the Document Recovery pane, select Save As on the File menu, and then save the document as a .docx file. Manually change the extension to .docx, if necessary, by right-clicking the file and selecting Rename.
- If the Recovery pane does not open, manually search for AutoRecover files. To do this, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running.Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013
- On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse.
- If you don't see your document listed, select Recover Unsaved Documents.
Word 2010- On the File menu, select Recent.
- If you don't see your document listed, select Recover Unsaved Documents.
- If you can't locate an AutoRecover file in the location that is identified in the Folder name list, search your whole drive for any .asd files. To do this, follow these steps:Windows 10 and Windows 7
- Select Start, type .asd in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
- If the File list does not contain AutoRecover files, go to Method 4.
If you find any files that have the .asd extension, use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for the version of Word that you're running:Word 2019, Word 2016, or Word 2013- On the File menu, select Open, and then Browse. (In some versions, select **Computer **and then Browse.)
- In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
- Select the .asd file that you found, and then select Open.
Word 2010- On the File menu, select Open.
- In the Files of type list (All Word Documents), select All Files.
- Select the .asd file that you found, and then select Open.
Note
If you find an AutoRecover file in the Recovery pane that does not open correctly, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to open damaged files.
Method 4: Search for temporary files
Temporary file names end with the .tmp extension. To find these files, use one of the following procedure.
Windows 10 and Windows 7
- Select Start, type .tmp in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
- On the Show only toolbar, select Other.
- Scroll through the files and search for files that match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you're looking for, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to recover information from the file.
Method 5: Search for '~' files
Some temporary file names start with the tilde (~) character. To find these files, follow these steps:
Windows 10 and Windows 7
- Select Start, type ~ in the Start Search box.
- Select See more results.Scroll through the files, and look for any that may match the last few dates and times that you edited the document. If you find the document that you're looking for, go to 'Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents' for more information about how to recover information from the file.
For information about how Word creates and uses temporary files, see Description of how Word creates temporary files.
Method 6: How to troubleshoot damaged documents
For information about how to troubleshoot damaged Word documents, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
More information
![Can Can](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125697840/380125093.png)
You can lose a Word document in certain situations. For example, the document may be lost if an error occurs that forces Word to close, if you experience a power interruption while editing, or if you close the document without saving your changes.
Microsoft Office For Mac
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. Be aware that some lost documents may not be recoverable.
The AutoRecover feature in Word performs an emergency backup of open documents when an error occurs. Some errors can interfere with the AutoRecover functionality. The AutoRecover feature is not a substitute for saving your files.
We do not provide any utilities to recover deleted documents. However, some third-party utilities to recover deleted documents might be available on the Internet.
For more information about AutoRecover, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
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.
You might experience issues such as these when you try to print from your Mac or print from your iOS device:
- You can't see your printer from your device, or you get a message that no printers were found.
- You get a message that software for your device isn't available.
- You have some other printing issue related to the software on your Mac or iOS device.
Word Won't Open On Mac
For help with an error light or other error condition on the printer itself, check the printer's documentation or contact its manufacturer.
If your printer is AirPrint-enabled
If your printer is AirPrint-enabled for printing from your Mac or iOS device, just make sure that it's connected to the same Wi-Fi network used by the Mac or iOS device.1
If you still can't print, try any of these solutions:
- Restart your Wi-Fi router. Then restart your printer.
- Move your printer closer to your Wi-Fi router.
- Update your printer and Wi-Fi router with the latest firmware from the manufacturer.2
- Update the software for your Mac or iOS device.
If you're using a Mac and you still can't print, it might help to reset the printing system. Otherwise, contact the printer manufacturer for support.
Can't Locate Microsoft Word For Mac Pro
If your printer isn't AirPrint-enabled
If you're printing from your Mac to a printer that isn't AirPrint-enabled:
- If your printer is connected to your Mac with a cable, disconnect the cable from your Mac.
- Turn off your printer.
- Get software updates for your Mac. Your Mac automatically downloads the latest software for most printers as part of these updates, so it's best not to install software from the printer manufacturer.
- Reconnect your printer to your Mac, if applicable.
- Turn on your printer and wait for it to finish starting up.
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners.
- Select your printer in the list of devices.
If your printer doesn't appear in the list of devices in Printers & Scanners preferences, click at the bottom of the list, then choose the command to add a printer or scanner. The window that opens offers more ways to find and add a printer, such as by IP address:
If you still can't print, and your printer is connected via Wi-Fi:
- Restart your Wi-Fi router. Then restart your printer.
- Move your printer closer to your Wi-Fi router.
- Update your printer and Wi-Fi router with the latest firmware from the manufacturer.2
Reset the printing system
If the issue continues, reset the printing system on your Mac. This removes all printers and scanners—including their print jobs and settings—from Printers & Scanners preferences.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners.
- While holding down the Control key on your keyboard, click anywhere in the list of devices.
- Choose “Reset printing system” from the menu that appears:
Remove printer drivers
If the issue continues on your Mac after resetting the printing system, take these final steps to remove any currently installed printer drivers. These steps don't apply to AirPrint printers.
- From the menu bar in the Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder. Type
/Library/Printers/
and click Go. - The Printers folder opens. Choose Edit > Select All, which selects all items in the Printers folder.
- Choose File > New Folder with Selection, which puts all of the selected items into a new folder named New Folder With Items. To save storage space, you can delete this folder.
If the issue continues, contact the printer manufacturer for support.
1. In corporate environments, DNS records can be configured to allow AirPrint-enabled printers to appear across other networks instead of just the network used by the device you're printing from. You can also use configuration profiles in iOS to set up AirPrint printers.
2. Firmware updates—such as for AirPort base stations—update the software on the printer or router, not the software on your Mac or iOS device. If the latest firmware from the manufacturer is several years old, the manufacturer might have stopped supporting or updating your device. If so, you might need a more up-to-date printer or router.