Accidentally Clicked 'Don't Save'? Here’s How to Restore Your Work, by RA Solutions on YouTube. 5 min 2 s.
- Video length
- 5 min 2 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Reopen Microsoft Word straight away and leave it running. Don't restart the PC or open heavy programs yet, because Word may still hold a temporary copy of your file.
Click File, then Info, then Manage Document, and pick Recover Unsaved Documents. A folder opens showing files ending in.asd, one for each unsaved document.
Double click the.asd file that matches your lost work. Word opens it as a normal document, so read it to confirm it is the right one.
Save the recovered file at once with File, Save As, choosing.docx and a new name. Do this before anything else.
If that list is empty, open File Explorer and go to C:\Users\your name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word. Turn on Hidden items on the View tab if AppData is not showing.
Search that folder for.asd and.wbk files. Open any recent ones from Word using File, Open, Browse, and check whether they hold your missing text.
Check File, Open, Recent for the document name. If Word saved a version before the crash, clicking it brings back the last saved state.
Turn on AutoSave with the toggle at the top left of Word for files kept in OneDrive. Right click the file in OneDrive and choose Version history to restore an older copy.
Set AutoRecover to run more often. Go to File, Options, Save, tick Save AutoRecover information every, and set it to 5 minutes.
Tips and common mistakes
The AppData folder is hidden by default, so tick Hidden items on the View tab in File Explorer to reach the AutoRecover files.
Save recovered text under a new name so you don't overwrite a good copy of the same document.
AutoSave only works for documents stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, so keep important files there.
Word only keeps temporary copies for a short time, so start looking as soon as you notice the file is gone.
Questions
What if the Recover Unsaved Documents list is empty?
Search the AutoRecover folder for.asd and.wbk files, then check File, Open, Recent. A temporary copy may still be on disk even when Word does not list it.
Can I recover a document I never saved once?
Sometimes. Word creates an AutoRecover copy of new documents too, so look in the.asd folder for a file named Document1 or after your first heading.
Does this work on a Mac?
The menu names differ. On Mac, check File, Open Recent and the AutoRecovery folder inside your user Library, under Application Support and Microsoft.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
