Summary
In this article, you will learn 4 effective ways to recover unsaved, lost and deleted Word document on Mac with detailed steps: [1]recover with AutoRecovery; [2]Recover from Temp folder; [3]Recover from Recovered item in Trash; [4]recover with Word file recovery software.
Feb 23, 2020 Luckily, there is still a chance to recover unsaved Word document in Windows 10 from Temporary Files, AutoRecover, or Word Document Recovery. Besides, if your saved Word document gets deleted due to a virus attack, misoperation, or hard drive formatting, you can get it back easily with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. AutoSave is a different feature which automatically saves your file as you work - just like if you save the file manually - so that you don't have to worry about saving on the go. On the Mac, AutoSave is available in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint for Office 365 for Mac subscribers. When AutoSave is turned on AutoRecover files are rarely needed.
Accidentally closed Word without saving on Mac? Do you know how to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac? According to the unique features of Microsoft Word for Mac, you may find the unsaved item in the AutoRecovery folder, Temporary folder or Recovered item in Trash. Besides, if you unintentionally lost, deleted or formatted your Word document, you can recover a Word document on Mac with EaseUS Word file recovery software.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Recover Unsaved Word Document | #1. Recover from the AutoRecovery folder...Full steps |
| Recover Deleted Word Document | #4. Recover with Word file recovery software...Full steps |
How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac
Embedded with more useful features in certain collaborative situations than Pages, Microsoft Word becomes increasingly popular among Mac computers. Office 365 even allows users to create Word files on their Mac. On one hand, Microsoft Word offers standard DOC or DOCX file formats that are compatible in almost every OS platform; On the other hand, Word 2020, 2019, 2018...2011 is featured with auto-saving, which enables us to recover a Word document before we could hit Save.
Based on the features of Microsoft Word for Mac, there are three potential ways to recover your unsaved Word documents. These methods can also be applied to recover unsaved Excel files on your Mac.
#1. Recover Unsaved Word Docs on Mac with AutoRecovery
The Word for Mac includes an AutoRecovery option. It is turned on by default. The app will automatically save a copy of an open Word file every 10 minutes. If Word freezes while you're working on a document, or if the computer crashes, you can use the AutoRecovery copy to recover unsaved Word document with the changes or additions that you made in your last Word for Mac session.
Access Microsoft Word Temporary Files Mac Pro
Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document
Unlike recovering unsaved Word document in Windows, the file recovery on Mac from the AutoRecovery folder is different.
Step 1. Open 'Finder' on your Mac, then head to 'Go' > 'Go to Folder'.
Step 2. Type: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click 'Go'.
Step 3. Open the AutoRecovery folder, locate all the files that start with the words 'AutoRecovery save of'. Select the one you want to recover, rename the file, then add the '.doc' filename extension.
Step 4. Double-click the file. The document now opens in Word for Mac.
Step 5. Click the File menu and select 'Save As'. Type a new name for the file into the Name field, select a folder for the file and click the 'Save' button.
#2. Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac from TMP Folder
The Word for Mac saves a copy of the unsaved document named as Word Work File in the Temporary folder. Your Mac also temporarily keep files in this folder. Though for many Mac users, it's not easy to find it.
Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac
Step 1. Go to 'Applications' > 'Utilities' and double-click 'Terminal'.
Step 2. In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR and you will be directed to the TMP folder which is used to keep files temporarily.
Step 3. In the TMP folder, find and open the folder named 'TemporaryItems'. In it, right-click the desired unsaved Word files and 'Open with...' Microsoft Word.
Step 4. Save the Word file by clicking on 'File' > 'Save As' and save it to another location.
#3. Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac from Recovered Item
The Word for Mac temporarily saves documents that the user has not yet saved themselves in a folder named 'Recovered items', located in the Trash. If there are no recovered files, this folder will not appear.
Guide: How to find unsaved Word files on Mac
Microsoft Access For Mac Computers
Step 1. Open 'Trash' by clicking its icon on the dock.
Step 2. Look for a folder labeled 'Recovered items' and click into it to look for your unsaved Word file. If you cannot find it, try the next solution.
#4. Recover Deleted Word Document with Word Recovery Software
The aforementioned three ways are exclusively for saving the file you're currently working on but suddenly disappear before clicking the Save button. To be specific, the methods will only work for files that are in the process of being worked on when they disappeared. Hence, if you lost a Word doc that is already existed by deletion, disk formatting or losing its access, you need to turn to other ways to recover a Word document on Mac.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is third-party specialized Mac data recovery software that can scour your hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, or USB flash drive to find all the lost data that vanishes without a trace on Mac OS X/macOS. It doesn't matter whether you emptied the trash bin or not, the deleted file will show up after you use the program to scan your selected drive.
Download Microsoft Access For Mac
For the first attempt, we strongly recommend you download its free version. It won't cost you a penny to search for your missing files. And since your problem is only for a few lost Word files, the 2GB recovery limit should be more than enough. The scan & recovery process is very simple, we’ll show you how it works.
Guide: How to recover a Word document on Mac
Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.
Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.
How to Increase the Chance of Unsaved Word Data Recovery
After suffering from the fear of losing your Word documents, you must not want to experience this kind of situation again. Thus, it's necessary for you to know how to avoid losing your Word files. To avoid completely losing your files, you can:
Tip 1. Save the Word Document Whenever You Create a New One
An ever unsaved Word document exists in the computer's RAM, not on the hard disk. Thus, the chances to save a Word Document that has never been saved before are slim. Knowing this should give you a hint that you should save the word document at least once whenever you create a new one.
Tip 2. Change the AutoSave Interval
After you save your Word document, the AutoSave feature will begin to work. To minimize the loss of the progress on the file you are working, you can change the frequency of AutoSave:
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.
Step 2. Go to 'Word' > 'Preferences' and click 'Save' under Output and Sharing.
Step 3. Check all the items under Save Options (Recommended) and change the interval of AutoSave, for example, from every 10 minutes to every 5 minutes.
If you follow the two tips above, you will substantially decrease the risk of losing your Word documents. What if you carelessly deleted your important Word files on your Mac? No worry. Try the free method to retrieve permanently deleted Word documents with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
Have you ever came across a situation when you thought you saved your important work, but when you go back to check it and it is unfortunately nowhere to be found? Well, if this has happened to you now, then you have landed in the right place. This losing of Word documents on a Mac occurs more often than you can expect for various reasons - accidental deletion, virus attack, hard disk failure, etc.
But, the good news is that Word for Mac stores a copy of the document or creates a temporary file of the document that you have not yet saved themselves. So, it means that there is a possibility of getting back your important work.
Access Microsoft Word Temporary Files Mac Windows
In this post, we’re going to discuss every plausible method to help you perform temporary files Word Mac recovery.
Part 1: Best Way to Recover Temporary Word Files on Mac
If you’re looking for the quickest and easiest solution to recover temporary Word files on your Mac, give iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac a try. This reliable and professional software can help you get back your temporary Word document no matter how you lost it in the first place. Thanks to its advanced technology, you can recover not only Word documents, but many other file types from several storage devices. The strongest point of the software is that it helps you get the job done without affecting already stored data on your system.
Your Effective Recover Temporary Word File Mac Software
- Supports to recover 1000 types of files including photos, videos, documents, etc and let you preview the recoverable data.
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- Powerful enough to work under several different data loss scenarios - accidental deletion, system crash, power failure, malware attack, etc.
- Features two scanning modes - quick scan and deep scan to help you recover deleted files on Mac or format drive recovery more efficiently and easier.
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To learn how to perform Word Mac temporary files recovery, get the iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac on your computer and follow the below steps.
Step 1: Choose file types
After downloading the software, install and run it. Then, you have to choose the file type(s) you would like to recover. In this case, select 'Documents' and hit the 'Start' button.
Step 2: Select a location
The next step is to choose the location that you would like to scan to look for lost temporary Word files on your Mac. After then, click the 'Scan' button to start the process for recover deleted Word Document on Mac.
Step 3: Preview and recover temporary word files on Mac
Once the scan process completes, the software will let you preview the recoverable data. Finally, go to the 'documents' section and select the files you would like to get back and hit the 'Recover' button to restore the selected files on your Mac.
Generally, a quick scan is enough to help you get back your temporary Word files. But, if it doesn't meet your expectations, then you can always turn to a deep scan.
Part 2: Look for Temporary Word Documents in Temporary Folder with Terminal
Another quick way to find Mac OS Word temporary files is to access the Temporary folder on Mac. The Apple Mac operating system creates temporary files within your system’s Temporary folder or also known as TMP folder. It might be possible that you are able to find your lost work in this folder.
Here’s the step-by-step guide to learn how to find temporary Work files in Temporary Folder using Terminal.
Step 1: Go to 'Finder' > 'Application' > 'Terminal' to open Terminal.
Step 2: Next, you need to type 'open $TMPDIR' and hit 'Enter'. And then, open 'Temporaryitems' to check your temporary word files on Mac.
Step 3: Look for and open the '~Word Word' files with the TextEdit application. Next, copy & paste the text to Office Word.
Although these non-text contents can’t be shown in TextEdit, your newly added content will be saved.
Part 3: Recover Word on Mac with Auto Recovery in Microsoft Word
The Word for Mac features an AutoRecovery option. It is enabled by default. It will automatically save a copy of an open Word document every 10 minutes. Therefore, it the Word stops working or the system crashes, then you can take advantage of the AutoRecovery feature to recover unsaved Work files with the additions or changes you have made in your most recent Word for Mac session.
Unlike recovering temporary files Word Mac, the temporary file recovery on Mac with AutoRecovery is different. Below is the step-by-step guide on how to recover unsaved Word document on Mac using AutoRecovery
Step 1: Go to 'Finder' on your Mac and then, open 'Go' > 'Go to Folder'.
Step 2: Enter '~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery' and hit 'Go' to get mac OS word temporary files.
Step 3: Open the 'AutoRecovery' folder and locate the files starting with words - 'AutoRecovery save of'. Then, choose the one you would like to get back, rename the file and then, add the filename extension - '.doc'.
Step 4: Double-tap the file and the document will open in Word for Mac.
Step 5: Tap the “File” menu and choose 'Save As'. Here, enter a new name for the file into the 'Name' field, choose a folder for the file and hit the 'Save' button.
Part 4: How to Recover Temporary Word Files on Mac with Time Machine
Using recover temporary Word files Mac, you can recover Word Mac temporary files without any hassle provided that you have created a backup of your files using Time Machine.
Let’s learn how to find the temporary Word file on Mac with Time Machine.
Step 1: Open the Time Machine using the spotlight - hit the CMD + Spacebar and then, enter 'Time Machine' to open it.
Step 2: Next, locate the target Word file using the timeline.
Access Microsoft Word Temporary Files Mac Os
Step 3: After finding the Word file you would like to restore, select it and click the 'Restore' button.
Access Microsoft Word Temporary Files Mac Download
Conclusion: Performing temporary files Word Mac recovery is no more trouble thanks to the solution like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. Unlike other temporary Work document recovery solutions, this best Mac data recovery software helps you get the job done with great ease and in a few clicks of a button.