Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving in MS Word 2003/2007/2010/2013/2016

If you've accidentally closed Microsoft Word without saving your document, there are possible ways to recover the unsaved file. The solutions provided can be applied to restore lost or unsaved Word files in MS Office Word 2003/2007/2010/2013/2016, regardless of whether you're using Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.

Workable Solutions	Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Recover from Recent Documents	Open Word > "File" > "Open" > "Recent Documents"...Full steps
Fix 2. Recover from Manager Versions	Open Word > "Files" > "Info" > "Manage Document"...Full steps
Fix 3. Recover from Temporary Files	Open Word > "File" > "Options" > "Save" > AutoRecover folder...Full steps

How Can I Recover A Word Document That I Closed Without Saving

If you're looking to recover a closed Word file without saving, you're in the right place. This guide will help you recover an unsaved Word document after a computer restart, shutdown, power off, or unexpected Microsoft Word shutdown.

Microsoft's AutoSave feature in Office applications allows users to restore unsaved documents, providing a better experience in using Microsoft Office. This feature can be particularly helpful in situations where Word document loss has occurred, allowing users to recover unsaved files, including Excel files.

Here, we've collected all the possible solutions for restoring closed Word without saving. Continue reading and you'll find the best method for your case.

If you've turned on AutoSave in MS Office, you're in luck. You can recover an unsaved Word document that was closed without saving or lost due to other reasons from Recent Documents, Manage Version, or Temporary files.

If AutoSave is not enabled, a reliable file recovery software can be used to try and restore the lost Word file.

Three Solutions to Recover Unsaved Word File

To restore an accidentally closed Word without hitting the Save button in MS Word 2003/2007/2010/2016, follow these steps. First, open a new Word document and click on "File" > "Recent" > "Reopen a Recent Workbook" to view the list of recently opened documents.

Solution 1. Recover closed Word from Recent Documents (Word 2013)

Step 1. To recover an unsaved Word document, open the Word application, go to File > Open > Recent Documents, and click "Recover Unsaved Documents".

locate the unsaved word

Step 2. To access the unsaved document, select it from the list and click the "Open" button to open it in a new window within Word.

open the unsaved word file

Step 3. Click the "Save As" button in the top banner.

save the unsaved word document

Solution 2. Recover Unsaved Word from Manager Versions

Step 1. To access the "Manage Document" feature in Word, open the Word application, navigate to the "Files" tab, and then click on "Info". From the dropdown menu, select "Manage Document".

how to recover unsaved Word document

2. Click "Recover Unsaved Documents" from the drop-down menu.

Recover unsaved word document from manage version.

3. Select the unsaved file and click the "Open" button. To save the image, click on the three dots at the top right corner of the browser, then select "Save as" from the dropdown menu. This will open a pop-up window where you can choose the location and file name for the saved image.

how to recover unsaved Word document

Solution 3. Recover Unsaved Word Document from Temporary Files

Step 1.To access the AutoRecover folder in Word, open the Word application, go to File > Options > Save, and locate the AutoRecover folder on your PC.

recover unsaved word document-1

Step 2. To recover an unsaved Word document, navigate to the AutoRecover folder in File Explorer, copy the file path, and find the document saved with a .asd extension.

recover unsaved word document-2

Usually, the temporary file is saved in C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\ or C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles.

Step 3. To recover an unsaved Word document, open Word, go to "File" and select "Open" from the dropdown menu, then choose "Recover Unsaved Documents" from the options. This will allow you to retrieve the document that was not saved.

Step 4. To open the .asd file, simply paste the file name at the designated column and click "Open". Once the file is open, you can check its content and save it to a new location, effectively preserving the file's integrity and making it accessible for further use.

recover unsaved word document-3

If Word experiences an error, a warning message will appear saying "Word experienced an error. Would you like to recover the document?" If this happens, click "Open and Repair" at the open Unsaved Document window. This will attempt to recover the document and allow you to continue working on it.

If you're having trouble recovering an unsaved Word document, you can try checking the AutoRecover file, which is a temporary copy of your work that Word saves periodically. To do this, open Word, click on "File" and then "Open", and select the location where you saved the document.

Extra Tip - Deleted or Lost Word Recovery in 3 Steps

If you need to restore a closed Word document without saving, the previous solutions can help. However, if the saved Word document has been deleted or lost due to device error or other reasons, you may need to use a reliable file recovery software to recover it.

Deep Data Recovery can scan your entire hard drive to locate a lost Word document, helping you recover it in just 3 steps.

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

Step 1. Choose file types and click "Next" to start

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

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Choose the Word file location

Select the drive or folder you want to scan and click the "Scan" button to start the process.

Step 3. Locate your Word files

The software will immediately start scanning all lost data on the selected drive, and after the scan, you can click the "Documents" option in the left panel, choose "Word" from the category bar, and then click "Preview" to view the recovered files.

Step 4. Recover Word files

After previewing the lost Word files, select the desired Word files and click "Recover" to save them to a specified folder.

Conclusion

If your Word file has closed without saving on your Windows PC, don't worry! There are 3 reliable solutions to restore it. Alternatively, if you've lost locally saved Word files and other data, you can use Qiling file recovery software to instantly recover them.

To prevent file loss, enable AutoSave in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which can recover unsaved work in case of unexpected events.

Here are the steps to turn on AutoSave in MS Word:

Step 1. To save a file in Word, open the Word application and navigate to the "File" tab, then select "Options" from the drop-down menu, and finally click on "Save" in the left-hand menu.

Step 2. Click the Save option, check the below two boxes:

To prevent losing unsaved work, set Word to save AutoRecover information every 10, 5, or 2 minutes, helping to recover your work in case of a crash or unexpected shutdown.
"Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving"

Step 3. Click "OK" to save all the changes.

Enable AutoSave feature in Word.

To back up local Word documents and other files on your PC, you can use a reliable file backup software.

Further Office FAQs

If you're wondering about restoring Office files on a Windows PC, you're not alone. Some users have similar questions about restoring other Office files, and here are three related questions with brief answers to help you out:

1. How do I recover an unsaved Word document?

Answer: Yes! When a Word or Office file gets closed without saving, it is still possible for you to recover the unsaved document as long as you have enabled the AutoSave feature. To do so, you can use the Recent Document, Manage Version or locate the temporary files saved on your PC to bring the lost file.

The solutions toward this question are available here on this page for you to refer to now.

2. Can I retrieve a PPT or PowerPoint that you didn't save?

Microsoft Office PowerPoint also has the AutoSave feature, which allows you to recover unsaved PPT files efficiently. With this feature enabled, you can easily recover unsaved files from the Recent > Recover Unsaved Presentation or Temporary Files saved in the AutoRecover folder on your PC.

For a more detailed guide, you can refer to this link for help on recovering deleted or unsaved PowerPoint files.

3. How do I recover Word after MS Office Word has stopped working?

To resolve the issue with the Word application not working, you can try repairing the Word application, ending the MS Word task in Task Manager, booting Windows into Safe mode, repairing the Office installation, installing the latest update, reinstalling Office, or disabling Add-ins in Word. These steps can help restore the functionality of the Word application.

To recover lost Word files, you can restart Word and restore the files using the AutoSave feature. Alternatively, you can use Qiling file recovery software to recover all lost files. This approach can help bring back the lost files in a quick and efficient manner.

There is no link provided. However, I can provide a general solution to the issue.

The Qiling website has a search option and a File-Recovery page with more answers if you have additional questions about recovering files in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other applications.