How to Recover Unsaved Word Document in 7 Ways [2025 Update]

How to recover unsaved Word document? You can first try the built-in utility of Microsoft Word. Go to "File" > "Info" > "Manage Document" and choose "Recover Unsaved Documents". You can scroll to locate your document here and to save it with a new name that you can easily remember.

Have you accidentally closed your Microsoft Word application without saving the document you had been working on for a few hours? Have you lost an unsaved Word file due to a sudden program crash? If you are looking for an effective solution, you've come to the right place. This article will show you the most useful ways to recover unsaved Word documents. 

Common Causes of Unsaved Word Documents

It would be great if you could clarify the causes of unsaved Word documents so you can choose the suitable methods according to your needs. Common causes of losing unsaved Word files include sudden power outages, accidental shutdowns, system crashes, or other factors such as Windows system errors. Guess you can find more detailed information in the infographic below.

Quick Overview of the Ways to Recover Unsaved Word Documents 

Why did my Word document disappear? Closing the Word accidentally or a program/system crash may cause the Word document not saved to disappear. Fortunately, there are several ways to recover unsaved Word documents in Windows 10 or Windows 11. If your saved Word document gets deleted, you can restore deleted Word documents from the Recycle Bin or by using one of the best data recovery software. 

Method	Scenarios	Success Rate	Required Time
🔮Use Word's Recover Unsaved Documents tool	🖥️This method applies to cases where the files are permanently deleted, corrupted, or lost for various reasons.	⭐⭐⭐⭐	1-2 min
🖱️Recover Unsaved Word from AutoRecover	🖥️This method is effective if the AutoRecover save is enabled on the computer and a copy of the document is saved.	⭐⭐⭐⭐	1-2 min
🗂️Recover from Temporary Files	🖥️This method recovers a considerable amount of work but relies on the available temp files and is not overwritten by newer files.	⭐⭐⭐	3-4 min
☁️Restore from iCloud Backup	📱This method applies when you have lost unsaved Word documents on your Mac or iPhone devices.	⭐⭐⭐	5-6 min
✅Recover from Temporary Files App	📱This method applies when you have lost unsaved Word documents on your mobile devices and you can search for your temp files.	⭐⭐⭐	3-4 min
🕜Retrieve from OneDrive Backup	📱This method helps you recover data from the OneDrive backup you have already enabled.	⭐⭐⭐	5-6 min

How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Windows 10/11

If you want to recover an unsaved Word document on Windows 10/11, you can use the built-in Document Recovery feature of Microsoft Word first to look for temporary files that still exist. You can also try the AutoRecover feature or the data recovery tool to get your Word documents back. Read the following methods. 

Solution 1. How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents with Software

Data recovery software makes unsaved Word recovery possible and easy. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard offers specialized solutions to help you recover unsaved or restore deleted Word documents on Windows 10 or Windows 11 computers. You can launch this Word recovery tool from EaseUS and start scanning. You can then locate the unsaved section from the left sidebar, and it will no longer take you time to specify its location.

💡Reviews

⭐ I had an issue with damaged files that I could not recover. The technician, Claire, was good enough to try to open two corrupted files for me, but was unable to do so. The recovery software  is easy to use and does a great job in finding deleted files, including PDF JPEG Excel, and Word. from Trustpilot ⭐I accidentally didn't save the final version of a paper on Word that I had been writing for about a week... none of my Mac AutoRecover features were working, but I saw some Reddit posts recommending this software. I was worried this was sketchy, but that was not the case. In less than 5 minutes, I had my final version back, along with my time, which is very important to me as a student. from Trustpilot

This capable tool can efficiently recover unsaved, deleted, and corrupted Word files in three simple steps. Here are the how-to steps that help you restore a deleted ot unsaved Word document with the EaseUS Word recovery tool:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on the computer. Choose the disk where you lost the unsaved files, and click "Search for Lost Data".

Step 2. You'll see the Path and Type tab on the left side,  click "Type" and "Unsaved Files". This unsaved file recovery software will help you recover unsaved Word, Excel, PPT, and other files with ease.

Step 3. Choose target files and click the "Preview" button. Then, click "Recover" to restore these unsaved files. Be careful not to revert the recovered files to the original location, as this may overwrite the file. You can also save the recovered files to cloud storage like OneDrive or Google Drive.

Solution 2. Restore Unsaved Word Documents from AutoRecover

Unsaved MS Word documents vanishing is a very unpleasant problem. Take it easy. You will most likely be able to retrieve Word documents from autosave .asd documents. 

Recovering unsaved documents requires you to turn on AutoSave in advance. If this feature is turned on, you can find the unsaved missing files and perform unsaved doc recovery through the following path:

Open the folder in the File Explorer by pasting the path or follow the steps below to recover not saved files in Word 2010 - 2019:

Step 1. In MS Word, click the "File" tab in the upper left.

Step 2. Click "Manage Document" and select the Recover Unsaved Documents option from the drop-down list.

Step 3. Check for your missing File in the dialog box. If it was a recent loss, it should appear.

Step 4. Open the recovered Word document and click the "Save As" button in the top banner.

🙇‍♀️For Word 2002 - 2007 Users:

Versions	Steps
Word 2007	1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click "Word Options" > "Save". 2. In the AutoRecover file location box, note the path, and then click "Cancel" and close Word. 3. Open the folder that you noted in step 2. 4. Look for the Microsoft Word document that you are looking for ends in .asd (AutoRecover files). Then, double-click it to open and save it immediately.
Word 2003 & 2002	1. On the "Tools" menu, click "Options". 2. Click the File Locations tab, double-click AutoRecover files, note the path, click "Cancel", and then click "Close". Note: In the Modify Location dialog box, you may have to click the down arrow in the Folder name list to see the whole path to your files. Close Word. 3. Look for files whose names end in .asd after locating the AutoRecover file location. 4. Double-click the Word document to open it. Next, save it immediately.

🟠Additional Help - How to Turn on AutoRecover

Many of us have experienced a situation where we have created a Word document and then accidentally closed it out without saving it. To avoid this kind of situation, you'd better enable AutoRecover.

Step 1. Open Word, go to "File" > "Options" > "Save".

Step 2. Tick the box of "Save AutoRecover information every * minutes" and "Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving".

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

How to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac computers is also information that many people want to learn.

Then, you can check the file content and save it as a new Word file at another secure location.

Solution 3. How to Recover Not-Saved Word Documents from Temporary Files

If you can't find Word documents from the AutoRecover files, another way to get back an unsaved Word workbook is to use the tmp folder.  

Step 1. Press the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.

Step 2. Type and search for .tmp. files. 

Step 3. Select the tmp file from the result list. Open and save it.  

How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents on iPad

Since Microsoft Word can be used on an iPad like on Windows devices, it is not rare that you will encounter unsaved Word document loss on your iPad. The methods vary from what you can do on a Windows PC, and you have more options due to iCloud. Read the following methods that can restore your unsaved Word files:

Method 1. Restore Unsaved Word Document on iPad from iCloud Backup

If you have ever logged into iCloud and enabled it before, chances are that you can locate your unsaved Word document in iCloud. Here is how you can do:

Step 1. Visit iCloud.com and log in with your Apple account. 

Step 2. Look for the "Recently Deleted" folder or use the "Restore Files" option in the account settings to locate your unsaved files.

Step 3. Select the files you want to restore and tap "Recover" to restore them to their original location.

Method 2. Check Autosave/Recovery Features to Perform Unsaved Word Document Recovery on iPad

Like on Windows PC, you can also use the autorecover feature to restore unsaved Word documents with the same method as follows:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on your iPad and go to the "File" tab.

Step 2. Choose "Recover Unsaved Documents" from the File tab and scroll to locate your lost files.

Step 3. Once you have found the document you want to recover, open it and rename it with an easy-to-remember name in case of further data loss.

How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Phone [iPhone & Android]

What if you have lost files on your mobile devices, like an iPhone or an Android? You can still use the AutoRecover utility to locate and check your unsaved Word documents, but there are some other methods available to recover Word document.

Method 1. Recover Word Document Not Saved on Phones from Temporary Files

Step 1. Navigate to Internal Storage> Android > Data > com.microsoft.office.word > files > Temp.

Step 2. Then, look for files that end with .asd or .tmp.

Step 3. Choose the file you want and move them to the location you want.

Method 2. Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Phone from OneDrive Backup

It would be great if you had logged in to the OneDrive before, and you can restore all your lost files from the OneDrive backup like this:

Step 1. Like iCloud, you first need to visit and sign in to the OneDrive website using your account.

⭐Note: You need to use an Incognito window to prevent the OneDrive app from opening.

Step 2. Utilize the Search Everything feature from the top of your page to locate your files.

Step 3. Once you locate your files, select them and retrieve them by downloading them.

Conclusion

How to recover Word document? This tutorial teaches you five ways to restore unsaved Word workbooks on Windows and Mac devices. With the help of EaseUS MS Office file recovery software, you can restore lost, unsaved, and deleted Word documents without any Word backup files.

We hope these solutions can help you get back any lost Word documents, and remember to create a backup copy of your Word documents if you don't want to lose files in the future!

Restore Unsaved Word Files FAQs

If you still have some Word recovery problems, you can read the following questions and answers to get more help.

1. How do I recover an unsaved Word document from Windows 10?

Step 1. Click the "File tab", then choose "Info", then select "Manage Documents".

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

Step 3. Click "Open" when you have selected the document you want to recover.

Step 4. Click the "Save As" button and save your Word document.

2. How to retrieve unsaved Word documents from USB?

If you have unsaved changes to a Word document that is stored on a USB drive, you can recover your work in two ways:

One way is to try opening the document from the Recent Documents list in Microsoft Word. To do this, open Word and click on the File menu. Then, click on Open and select Recent Documents. If your unsaved document is listed, you should be able to open it and recover your work.

Another way to recover Word files from a USB drive is to use the Autosave feature. To do this, open the document that you were working on and look for the Autosave folder. If you find the file, you can recover your work by opening it in Word.

3. How to retrieve unsaved Word document 2016?

Try these methods to restore unsaved Word documents in Word 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010:

• Check your recently opened documents
• Try opening a temporary file
• Use the AutoRecover tool

4. Where are unsaved Word files stored?

These Word files can be found via "File> Open" and click the "Recover Unsaved Documents" button at the very bottom of the Recent File List.