Oops! Forgot to hit the save button while working? Don’t worry. We have all gone through the agony of forgetting to save the document when we are in a hurry. Generally, it is believed that if the document is not saved, it is gone. Poof!
Surprisingly, this is not the case. Even though it seems we can never be so forgetful, there can always be a lapse in judgment. Maybe someone else closed the document by mistake or you were busy thinking about something and clicked “Don’t Save”.
Don’t give up hope! Microsoft is intelligent enough to automatically save a copy. Yes, it’s true! The trick is to know how to recover it. For this, read the different ways in which you can recover the document.
1.Recovering Unsaved Files
As mentioned above, Microsoft has the option of auto-save. Still, you can end up loosing chunks of information and data if you don’t save. This issue is so common and recurring that Microsoft has a special feature for this. Just follow a few steps and your document will be back with a bang:
- Open Microsoft Word
- In the upper left corner, click on the File icon
- Select the option of Manage Documents
- In the drop down options, choose Recover unsaved documents.
- A dialogue box will appear with a few options. If your file was a recent one, it will appear here.
- Click on your unsaved file to open it
- Now, choose Save As from the top banner and click that.
Pro Tip: Want to know a little secret? It is common knowledge that MS Word saves your documents automatically. But, you can easily increase the frequency at which the application will save the document. All you need to do is select File and go to Options.
Here, you should select Save and enter the amount of minutes after which you want Word to automatically save your document.
2.Recover Documents After Word Crashes
Another very common thing we face is when Word crashes and we lose our document. Keep in mind that you can recover documents from this method ONLY when you do that immediately before other documents take their place.
- When the system is back after a crash, reopen Microsoft Word.
- Mostly, the documents are recovered automatically. If you find your document on the main page, well and good. But, if you don’t, proceed to the next step.
- Click File, Options, Save.
- You will see the Auto recover file location path, copy this by pressing Ctrl+C
- Open the folder which has your document name in it. Be careful to select the .asd file which is the most recent.
- Copy it
- Go back to Microsoft word and go to File and select Open.
- At the end of the recent document list will be an option of “recover unsaved documents”
- In the folder that pops open, paste the selected .asd file and your document will open up.
- Save if before you lose it again!
Pro Tip: The major reason for Word crashing is a corrupt template. Try working without one for a change.
Make it a habit to always hit Ctrl+S when you are working. But, with more and more applications are being hosted on Cloud Services, things are becoming so much easier. You don’t need to save again and again and can recover documents quickly.
Cloud computing is a life-saver when it comes to documents. Not only does it ensure the safety of documents, any document which has been saved on the cloud can be accessed from any computer. Isn’t that nice?
Even then, we always recommend to make it a habit to hit the Ctrl+S button to save yourself from unnecessary hassle.