Click Extras next to the volume you wish to recover files from and select Remount Volume As Read Only. A padlock symbol will appear next to the volume name. This will prevent the disk from being accessed by other apps during the recovery process. Click Search for lost data (or Rebuild) next to the volume you have just remounted. In MS Word, click the File Tab in the upper left. Click Manage Document and select Recover Unsaved Documents from the drop-down list. To get back deleted files on Windows 10 with Disk Drill: Download and install Disk Drill. Launch Disk Drill and select the storage device where the deleted files were located. Click the Search for lost data button to scan the selected storage device. Click the checkbox next to each file you want to recover. How to Recover a Deleted Word Document Using Disk Drill on PC. After downloading Disk Drill, open the program and select the drive where the file was originally placed. In most cases, this is the.

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Microsoft Word is a widely used app for creating text based documents, especially for businesses. Though the safest way to use Word is to have documents save automatically, most don’t save their Word files properly.

This becomes really problematic when you forget to save a document you’ve created, or are editing, and accidentally shut Word down without saving, or delete the file. Here, we’ll show you how to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac, and how to recover any file you think may be lost.

How to recover unsaved Word document Mac

When you need to recover Word document Mac computers don’t respond well to the retrieval process. Microsoft Word is a third party app, and Apple doesn’t automatically save its documents to icloud as it does with apps like Pages.

But it’s not a lost cause to recover unsaved Word document Mac. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help.

Recover Word document from the Trash

Want to know how to recover a Word document on Mac? First check the trash!

There’s a really good chance you’ve simply discarded the Word document you think is lost forever. Here’s how to recover Word document Mac from the trash bin on your computer:

1. Right click the Trash icon in your Mac’s dock
2. Select “Open”
3. With the trash bin folder open in Finder, find the Word document you’re looking for
4. Select “Put Back” (Note: You can also drag and drop the file onto your desktop or another folder within Finder if you’re not sure where it was stored originally.)
5. Find the Word document in the location it was originally saved

From here you can edit, rename, or do whatever else you need with the Word file.

Recover unsaved word document from the AutoRecovery

Disk Drill Media Recovery

In Word, Microsoft built a feature into the app named AutoRecover, which saves your Office documents every ten minutes or so. It’s there to help avoid lost files, or to have a save point if Word or another Office 365 app crashes.

You can access AutoRecover saves, which may end up having a version of the file you’re looking for. Here’s how to recover lost Word document Mac AutoRecover:

1. Open Finder on your Mac
2. From the menu bar, select “Go”
3. Select “Go To Folder”
4. Enter the following string: /Users//Library/Containers/com.Microsoft/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

Note: In this string, should be the username of your profile on your Mac.

You will then be directed to the “Containers” folder in your Library. Scroll down until you see “com.microsoft.Word” and search for your document. Keep in mind it may also be in another Microsoft folder within the Containers folder, so be patient and diligent!

Recover lost docs from the Temporary folder

Your Mac has a folder where it holds temporary items – and it’s possible the Word document you’re looking for is in there! Here’s how to recover lost word document Mac Terminal may help you locate:

1. Open Terminal on your Mac
2. Enter this command: open $TMPDIR
3. Find the “TemporaryItems” folder on the list

If your Word document is in this folder, simply right click or drag it out to another folder, like the desktop.

Recover an unsaved word document using soft

Whether Word or another filetype, third party apps are likely a lot easier to use for recovering lost documents. One of the best for this is Disk Drill.

Disk Drill’s main focus is finding files you think may be lost, and it’s a must-have app for anyone who’s ever lost a document. It searches all the dark corners of your Mac, like the temporary items folder, for any file name or filetype you ask it to look for.

Here is recover lost Word document Mac Disk Drill:

1. Open Disk Drill on your Mac
2. Select the “Recover” button on the right side of the window
3. Enter any filters you’d like to narrow your search
4. When you see the lost files, select “Recover” again

Recover using Backup

When you have a backup of your Mac, it’s far easier to recover older files. Though we sometimes lose files when they’re newer and not saved properly, we also end up discarding older files without understanding we may need them again in the future. Whoops!

This is why having a good system for backing your Mac up is critical. Time Machine is a good option, but Get Backup Pro is far better.

Get Backup Pro allows you to back up your entire folder tree, or limit the backups to specific folders. This is an excellent option if you’re diligent about where you save files – like a ‘work’ folder for work documents – and want to ensure you have it backed up often.

Disk Drill Recover Word Document

You also have the ability to schedule unique backups with Get Backup Pro. You could backup your ‘work’ folder nightly, but other folders weekly or monthly, whatever you like! It can also synchronize files between Macs, making it much harder to truly lose a file.

Can Disk Drill Recover Deleted Files

When you do need to find a file via a backup, all you have to do is access the backup on the remote disk you saved it to, then search for the document in Finder. If you backup often, compression is an option that can save you a ton of room on your remote disk.

Improve your writing with Ulysses

Think about what you need from that older file – were you trying to make edits? Did you need to reference it for another document you were creating? Try giving Ulysses a shot.

Ulysses for Mac is like Finder and a better version of Word in one amazing app. It keeps all of your writing in one place, and has impressive grammar correction features that may make you a better writer. Ulysses has several interfaces to choose from, too, including dark mode for those who like light text on a dark background.

But for file management, Ulysses is incredible for those who write a lot. It has a really sharp folder system that houses your documents, and an in-app editor for creating, editing, and saving documents. It also exports documents as PDF, DOCX (Word), ePub, WordPress, Ghost, or Medium formats.

Many who publish online use Word for its non-destructive features, but Ulysses takes it one step further. It supports markdown, so you can edit your writing in the app and copy-paste directly to the web without fear something will be amiss. It also syncs with iCloud, so you can be sure your documents live in the cloud for recovery later on.

Conclusion

Recovering Word documents on Mac is not difficult, but it’s also tricky. Digging through Terminal, hidden folders, and the trash are just not fun. And not always effective. Disk Drill is a great app, and in our experience far better at finding lost files than any other method. It’s also a lot simpler to use!

We suggest creating backups often; this practice helps you recover files easily, and helps avoid the assumption Word or your Mac have the file somewhere you don’t know about. Why leave it to chance? Get Backup Pro helps you backup what you want, when you want, without worry.

Ulysses is less cumbersome to use than Word, and may suit you a lot better as well. It can be purely distraction free, and we really like that it exports to Word if you absolutely need a Word document. Nobody will even know your impressive documents were never created with Word!

All of these apps and nearly 200 more are available for free during a seven day trial of Setapp, the world’s largest and best suite of productivity apps for the Mac. During your week-long trial, you’ll enjoy unlimited access to the full Setapp suite of over 190 apps, and when the trial is over, Setapp is only $9.99 per month.

It’s an incredible deal, so why wait any longer? Get your free trial of Setapp now!

How To Use Disk Drill Recovery

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