How To: Recover a Microsoft Word document
How to recover a Microsoft Word document depends on how the document was lost in the first place. If the document exists but is damaged or cannot be opened in Microsoft Word then you need to repair it. If it has been lost or deleted then you need to recover it.
Recommended software
- If the document exists but is damaged or cannot be opened, try WordFIX.
- If the document is lost or deleted try Word Recovery.
How to repair a damaged Word document
If your Word document exists but is corrupted or damaged - for example, it does not display correctly or in its entirety, or it causes Microsoft Word to freeze or display an error message such as "The document name or path is not valid" - then you can try to repair it. How to repair it depends on how it was damaged. There are several things you can try to repair a Word document:
If the document can be opened in Microsoft Word
- Try saving the document to another file format such as Rich Text (.rtf) or Plain Text (.txt) and then converting it back to Word.
- Try copying everything except the last paragraph mark, or all the undamaged portions of the document, to a new document.
- Force Microsoft Word to try to recover the document. In the File, Open dialog box, after selecting the document, click the arrow by the Open button and select Open and Repair.
- Use the Recover Text from Any File converter. In the File, Open dialog box, select "Recover Text from Any File (*.*)". (This converter is only available in Microsoft Word 2002 and later, and may need to be installed.)
If Microsoft Word cannot open the document
- Close Microsoft Word, then click Start, Run, type winword /a and press Enter. Try to open the document using this copy of Word.
- Try to insert the damaged document into a new document. Create a new document, then click on Insert, File, select the damaged document and click Insert.
- Try opening the file using WordPad then re-saving it to a new file, or copyimg the contents and pasting them into a new Word document.
- Use the Recover Text from Any File converter. In the File, Open dialog box, select "Recover Text from Any File (*.*)". (This converter is only available in Microsoft Word 2002 and later, and may need to be installed.)
If the Microsoft Word document is damaged
These Word document recovery products work in different ways so it is sometimes the case that one will be successful when another isn't. They are quick to use, and available in trial versions so you can see whether one will work for you before buying.
- See a tutorial showing how to repair a Word document using WordFIX
- See a tutorial showing how to repair a Word document using DocRepair
If your Word document is in the DOC format (not DOCX or RTF) then it is worth trying DOC Regenerator. This Microsoft Word document recovery tool scans the entire hard drive so it takes quite a long time but it can often recover a file from previously saved versions.
If the repair tools aren't successful and the lost document is worth spending the time on then try Word Recovery, which may be able to recover previously saved copies of the document.
How to recover a deleted or lost Word document
If you cannot find a Microsoft Word document then it may have been accidentally deleted.
- The first step to recover a deleted Word document is to look in the Recycle Bin!
If the document you require isn't in the Recycle Bin then we recommend that you try the Microsoft Word document recovery product Word Recovery. If the document was in the old Microsoft Word DOC format then you could also try DOC Regenerator.
- See a tutorial on how to recover Word documents using Word Recovery.
