3 Fixes to Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving in MS Word Issue

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accidentally closed word without saving

Sometimes people close Word without saving, which can cause them to lose important papers. This help will show you a number of different ways to get back accidentally closed word without saving on Windows using MS Office Word versions from 2003 to 2016.

How Can I Recover an Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving

In this article, we have compiled all the possible solutions to retrieve closed Word documents without saving. So, if you have enabled the AutoSave feature in MS Office, congratulations, as you have a good chance to fix accidentally closed word without saving issue. You can access it from the Recent Documents, Manage Version, or Temporary files. However, if you haven’t enabled AutoSave or if the aforementioned methods fail to retrieve your unsaved document, you can resort to reliable file recovery software as a last resort. These software solutions can help you recover lost Word files effectively.

Three Solutions to Recover Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving 

Now, let’s dive into the specific solutions to restore an accidentally closed word without saving in various MS Word versions.

Solution 1: Recover closed Word from Recent Documents (Word 2013)

Open the Word application and navigate to File > Open > Recent Documents > Click “Recover Unsaved Documents.”

Select the unsaved document from the list and click “Open” to view the content in a new Word window.

Click the “Save As” button in the top banner to save the recovered document.

Solution 2: Recover Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving from Manage Versions

Launch the Word application, go to Files, and click “Info” > “Manage Document.”

From the drop-down menu, select “Recover Unsaved Documents.”

Choose the unsaved file and click the “Open” button. On the pop-up window, select “Save As” to save it to your desired location.

Solution 3: Recover Unsaved Word Document from Temporary Files

  • Open Word and navigate to File > Options > Save. Locate the AutoRecover folder path on your PC.
  • Copy the file location path from File Explorer and open the AutoRecover folder. Look for the unsaved Word document with the .asd extension.
  • Launch Word again, click “File > Open > Recover Unsaved Documents.”
  • Paste the .asd file in the filename column and click “Open.” Review the file content and save it to a new location.

If Word displays an error message stating that it experienced an error, repeat the steps and click “Open and Repair” in the Open Unsaved Document window.

Extra Tip: Recover Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving with WinfrGUI in 3 Steps

The above procedures restored closed Word files without saving. If device problems or other factors cause you to delete or lose stored Word documents, WinfrGUI is a simple application to help.

Download WinfrGUI Free

WinfrGUI is a strong, free recovery tool. This tool can find misplaced Word documents in three easy steps:

Step 1: Choose the Word file location

Select the drive or folder where you believe the lost Word documents are located. Click the search button to initiate the scanning process.

Step 2: Locate your Word documents

The software will promptly scan all the lost data on the selected drive. After the scan, navigate to the “Documents” section. Select the desired Word file from the scan results and click “Preview.”

Step 3: Recover the deleted Word documents

Select the recoverable documents you want to restore and click “Recover.” Remember to move restored data to a new location. Secure cloud storage like OneDrive or Dropbox is suggested.

In conclusion, this website offers three solid ways to retrieve closed Word files without saving on Windows PC. We also recommend setting AutoSave in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to protect your work.

Steps to enable AutoSave in MS Word: 

  • Open Word and go to File > Options > Save.
  • Enable the following two options:
  • “Save AutoRecover information every * minute” (Set the frequency to 10, 5, or 2 minutes)
  • “Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving.”
  • Click “OK” to save the changes.

For local Word documents and other files on your PC, consider using reliable file backup software to protect your data.

Accidentally Closed Word Without Saving: FAQs

Furthermore, we have compiled answers to three frequently asked questions about recovering other Office files on Windows PC:

How do I recover an unsaved Word document?

Yes, unsaved Word files can be recovered. If AutoSave is activated, use Recent Documents, Manage Version, or temporary files to find the unsaved document. This page’s answers include extensive instructions.

Can I retrieve an unsaved PPT or PowerPoint presentation?

Answer: PowerPoint has AutoSave. With AutoSave enabled, you can recover unsaved PPT files from Recent > Recover Unsaved Presentation or from temporary files in the AutoRecover folder. Visit How to Recover Deleted or Unsaved PowerPoint Files for a complete guide. 

How do I recover Word after MS Office Word has stopped working?

First, fix the broken Word program. For a quick fix, stop the MS Word task in Task Manager or boot Windows in Safe mode. Restoring Office, updating Office, or reinstalling Office are other efficient approaches. After fixing the issue, restart Word and use AutoSave or WinfrGUI to recover the deleted Word files. 

In addition to Word file recovery, we strongly advise you to enable the AutoSave feature in Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to safeguard your valuable files.

To enable AutoSave in MS Word, follow these steps:

  • Open Word and go to File > Options > Save.
  • Enable the following two options:
  • “Save AutoRecover information every * minute” (Set the frequency to 10, 5, or 2 minutes)
  • “Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving.”
  • Click “OK” to save the changes.

For local Word documents and other files saved on your PC, using reliable file backup software is recommended.

Also Read: 4 Proven Ways to Microsoft Word Unsaved Document Recovery