How to Recover Deleted Word Documents-The Ultimate Guide[2023]

In daily life, data loss is not uncommon, especially when using Microsoft office software. In this blog post, we will explain various ways to solve this problem. Whether you want to recover deleted Word documents or learn how to recover an unsaved Word document, we have you covered.

Part 1:Can You Recover Deleted Word Documents Effortlessly?

Yes, you can recover a deleted Word file using right methods or tools.When you delete a Word document from Windows, the document is moved to the “Recycle Bin”. If you empty the Recycle Bin for Word documents, the files will be permanently deleted and no longer retained in the computer’s file system. 

However, even if you empty the Recycle Bin, the physical storage space of the files on the disk is usually not immediately overwritten. In some cases, it’s possible to recover deleted files, depending on whether new data has been written to the disk after the files were deleted and the use of data recovery tools.

Part 2:How to Recover Deleted Word Documents on Windows 10 For Free

Solution 1:Recover a Deleted Word Document from the Recycle Bin

Start by checking the recycle bin to see if you will find the deleted or lost Word document. Windows Recycle Bin is a folder where your computer systems store deleted items temporarily. Here’s how to recover a deleted Word document from the recycle bin. 

Double-click the recycle bin icon on your desktop.

Locate the document you want to recover 

Right-click on it and select “Restore.”

Solution 2:Recover a Deleted Word Document from Your Cloud Drive 

If you have the good habit of regularly backing up important files to the cloud, it has never been a challenge to recover a deleted Word file. For example, OneDrive is a cloud service provided by Microsoft that allows users to store data in the cloud. Here’s a guide on how to recover a deleted Word document from OneDrive:

Visit OneDrive website

Log in using your Microsoft account credentials 

Go to the Recycle Bin or My files

Select the Word document you want to retrieve 

Preview it and Choose Download

In addition to OneDrive, Google Drive is also a widely used cloud backup service. The process of recovering a deleted Word document from Google Drive is similar.

Bonus Tip:How to Recover Permanently Deleted Word Documents without Backup

As mentioned before, if you frequently back up your files, you don’t need to worry about how to recover deleted Word documents in Windows 10 or how to recover unsaved Word documents. However, what can you do if you occasionally forget to back up? Fortunately, you can consider using professional Word recovery software like Tenorshare 4DDiG. This software is designed for both Windows and Mac and offers the following features:

Easy data recovery from various sources such as computers, laptops, internal or external drives, flash drives, and SD cards.

Recovery of multiple file types including photos, videos, files, audio, Word documents, Excel files, PowerPoint presentations, and more.

Recovery of files lost due to accidental deletion, formatting, partition loss, corruption, system crashes, malware infections, and other causes.

Here are the steps to recover deleted Word documents in Windows 10 using Tenorshare 4DDiG:

Step 1: Download and install Tenorshare 4DDiG Data Recovery software on your PC or Mac. Launch the program and select the location where the Word document was located before deletion.

Step 2:Initiate the scan of the selected location to find the deleted Word documents. You can stop the scan at any time if you have already found the files you want to recover. The software provides different views like Tree View and File View to help you navigate through the recovered files and narrow down your search.

Step 3:Preview the recovered Word documents and select the ones you want to recover. It is recommended not to save the recovered Word documents to their original location.

Furthermore, by simply clicking the share button within the software and sharing a post about 4DDiG on social media, you can easily obtain a free data recovery of 100MB.

Solution 3: Recover  a Deleted Word  File using File History 

You may also recover a deleted Word file using the file history. However, this only works if you have regularly backed up your device. Here’s how to restore a deleted Word document using file history. 

Press the Win+S key and type File History

Launch it and Locate the Word document you want to recover

Use the arrow keys to find its different versions 

Choose “Restore” to retrieve the file and move it to the original location or select a different storage location 

Part 3:How to Recover an Unsaved Word Document

Has your computer experienced a malfunction that resulted in the loss of the Word document you were working on, and you haven’t saved it yet? If so, don’t worry. Microsoft Word’s AutoRecover feature can help you recover the document.

However, you must enable AutoRecover before using this feature. This way, you won’t have to manually save each Word file as you work on them. Once this feature is enabled, your computer will create a temporary folder where you can recover the current file if it gets lost for any reason.

Here’s how to recover your unsaved Word document with AutoRecover: 

Open MS Word and then click on the File tab 

Select “Manage Document” and then Recover Unsaved Documents 

Your file will feature in the dialogue box if you have lost it recently

Open the recovered Word document and hit the Save As button to restore it 

If you are unsure how to enable the Autorecover feature to recover deleted Word documents, you can refer to the first chapter of this guide.

Part 4:How to Recover Word Document after a Crash 

If Microsoft Word crashes, you can lose the Word document you were working on. But this doesn’t mean you can’t recover it. Here’s how to recover a Word document after a crash. 

Open Microsoft Word once your computer starts to function 

Look for the recent portion that the program saves automatically 

Click File, Options, then Save if you don’t find the file 

Copy the document path from its location on AutoRecover, drag, and drop it into the File Explorer 

Access its folder, then copy the .asd file of the document 

Go to MS Word again and click on “File,” move to “Open,” and then scroll down the list, then select “Recover Unsaved Documents.” 

Drop the path you copied to open the file you want to recover 

Part 5:How to Recover Overwritten Word Documents

You can recover if File History has backed up an overwritten Word document. Also, the Properties menu has a system restore point where the system had located the file due to the Previous Version feature. Here’s how to restore an overwritten Word document. 

Navigate to the File Explorer 

Right-click the folder that had the Word file 

Click Properties and go the Previous Versions 

Choose the file version you want to restore 

Hit the Restore button 

You can use this option only if you have configured System Restore. It lets you access the older version of an overwritten file, which can be helpful when you need it. 

Part 5:How to Avoid Losing Important Word Documents 

Although you can try many techniques to restore a lost or overwritten document, following practices that help you avoid losing files is the best option. Here are tips to help you avoid losing your Word documents:

Develop a habit of saving your Word documents frequently.

Enable the AutoSave and AutoRecover features in Word.

Back up important files to different storage devices, such as cloud backup or external hard drives.

When deleting documents, folders, or files, double-check to ensure you are selecting the correct item.

Download reliable file recovery tools like 4DDiG Data Recovery that can help you retrieve lost files.

Final Word

In conclusion, you can lose Word documents due to various reasons. Although you can use the above tips to safeguard your Word documents, data loss is unpredictable and unforeseen. Regularly backing up your files or using 4DDiG Data Recovery allows you to easily and reliably recover deleted Word documents.

FAQ  about How to Recover Deleted Word  Documents

Q:How to recover an unsaved Word document?

A:If you are worry about how to recover an unsaved Word document, follow these easy steps to recover it: 

Open Word and select the File tab 

Select Manage Documents and then Recover Unsaved Documents 

Search for the missing file in the dialogue box 

Select the recovered document and then the Save As button 

Q:Where are temporary Word files stored?

A:Temporary Word files are typically stored in a designated temporary folder on your computer. Here are the default temporary file locations for Word on Windows:

For Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, and Word 2019:

C:\Users%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles

For Word 2007:

C:\Users%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word

Q:How do I recover a deleted Word document?

A:There are seven ways to recover your deleted Word documents or unsaved Word documents:

     Fix 1:Restore it from the Recycle Bin

     Fix 2:Use Professional data Recovery Software

     Fix 3:Use AutoRecover feature in Word

     Fix 4:Recover it from the backup

     Fix 5:Use File History feature in Windows