FIX: Recover Deleted Word Documents

This is a regular occurrence on Windows PCs, since they are mostly used to run Office software, such as Microsoft Word. If you don’t have a backup, you might lose a deleted Word file permanently.

This guide will show you how to recover lost Word documents for free, as well as how to restore deleted Word files.

Recycle Bin

You may recover a Word Document from the Recycle Bin if you accidentally erased it by hitting the delete key. In general, any deleted file that is below the predefined size limit for thrown objects or hasn’t been selected to go beyond the Recycle Bin goes directly to the Recycle Bin.

Open the Recycle Bin commonly found in your Desktop.

Look for the deleted Word File.

Select and right-click on the file and select Restore.

NOTE: Because documents and files deleted using the Shift + Del key are permanently erased, they cannot be recovered from the Recycle Bin. You’ll need backup or data recovery tools to restore such files.

Use “Recover Unsaved Document”

Open a new Word file and go to File tab and select Info.

Click on the dropdown option under Manage Document.

Select Recover Unsaved Documents to view all unsaved Word Files on your system.

Select the files you want to restore from the list click Open.

Click Save As when the file opens to save the document on the system.

Use AutoRecover

Open a new Word file and go to File tab and go to Options.

Click on Save and look for AutoRecover file location.

Select and copy the file location path.

Open your File Explorer.

Paste the file location path in the Menu Bar and press Enter.

The unsaved Word file will show up with .asd extension.

Select and copy the path of the .asd file you want to recover.

Open a new word document and go to File and select Open.

Click on Recover Unsaved Document.

Paste the .asd file location path in the File name box and click Open.

Click Save As to save the word file on the system.