Recover Unsaved Word/Excel Files in Crashed Office 2016 on Mac

Overview of Recovering Unsaved Word/Excel

Losing an unsaved Excel file due to a sudden Office 2016 application crash on Mac can be frustrating. However, there are methods to recover the unsaved file. You can try checking the "Recent" list in Excel, which may still have the file's details.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2016 updates can crash on macOS or Mac OS X, resulting in lost unsaved Word documents. If you've been working on a file for hours, losing it due to an application crash can be frustrating. Fortunately, there are three potential solutions to recover the lost file. Additionally, a professional Mac data recovery tool can help you recover permanently deleted or lost Word documents in a simple and efficient way.

How to Recover Unsaved Word in Microsoft Office 2016 on Mac

If your Word file on Mac was not saved before a software crash, there are two possible ways to recover it. Alternatively, if you need help with a different file type, we also offer online tutorials on how to recover unsaved or lost Excel files on Mac.

Method 1. Recover from AutoRecover Word 2016

AutoRecover is a feature in some Office applications that automatically tries to recover files in case of an application or system crash.

Step 1. To access the "Go to Folder" feature on your Mac, open the Finder application and navigate to the "Go" menu, then select "Go to Folder".

Step 2. Type: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click "Go".

Step 3. To recover a Word document, open the AutoRecovery folder, locate the file starting with "AutoRecovery save of", select the desired file, rename it, and add the ".doc" filename extension.

Step 4. Double-clicking the file opens the document in Word for Mac.

Step 5. To save a file, click the File menu, select "Save As", enter a new name in the Name field, choose a folder, and click the "Save" button.

Method 2. Restore from the Temporary Folder

To restore unsaved Office files on a Mac caused by a software crash, follow these steps: navigate to the Temporary/Temp folder, locate the unsaved file with a .tmp extension, and open it in the corresponding Office application (e.

Step 1. Go to "Applications" > "Utilities" and double-click "Terminal".

Step 2. In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR and you will be directed to the TMP folder which is used to keep files temporarily.

Step 3. To recover unsaved Word documents, go to the TMP folder, find the "TemporaryItems" folder, right-click on the desired Word file, and select "Open with..." Microsoft Word.

Step 4. To save the Word file, go to the "File" menu, select "Save As," and choose a different location to save it.

If you still need the guides on how to recover unsaved Word documents on Windows, here is the access.

Method 3. Recover Unsaved Word 2016 with Data Recovery Software

Here Qiling Data Recovery tool is ready to help. Check the steps below, learn how to recover unsaved Word documents in 3 steps.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step 1. Launch Deep Data Recovery. Select the desired file types and click "Next" to proceed with the recovery process.

Step 2. To recover an unsaved file, hover your mouse over the device where the file was lost, then click "Scan" to initiate the file recovery process.

Step 3. After scanning, click "Type" and expand "Unsaved Documents". Then, select the exact file type - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Keynote, Pages, Numbers - that you lost without saving.

Step 4. Double-click to preview your unsaved file, select the right version and click "Recover" to save the file to another secure location on Mac.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted/Lost Word 2016 on Mac 

If you've lost your saved Word, Excel, or PPT files from your Mac due to accidental deletion, disk formatting, a virus attack, or partition loss, you can try using third-party software like Deep Data Recovery for Mac to recover them.

This tool offers a high chance of recovering deleted files from various storage devices, including the Mac trash bin, memory cards, USB drives, internal and external hard drives, and more.

Step 1. Launch Deep Data Recovery, select the file types you want to recover, and click "Next" to initiate the recovery process.

Step 2. To recover lost Word documents, select the location where they were lost, then click the "Scan" button. This will initiate the recovery process.

Step 3. Deep Data Recovery for Mac starts a quick scan and a deep scan on the selected disk volume, displaying the scanning results in the left pane.

Step 4. You can quickly filter the lost Word files by path and type. Select the desired files and click the "Recover" button to retrieve them instantly.

Related Articles

• File System Format Comparison: ExFAT vs Mac OS Extended
• MacOS Update Cannot Be Installed? See Here!
• Fix External Hard Drive 'Read Only' Error on Mac Without Losing Data
• Top 5 Best Mac Data Recovery Software in 2022

Is this information helpful?   Yes   No

This information is not relevant.

This information is not easy to understand.

This information is not deep enough.

What can we do to improve this information? (Optional)

Refresh Please enter the verification code!