How to View Previous Versions of Word Document

February 26, 2024 (updated July 18, 2024)

By Mia

Microsoft Word has made the process of tracking and reviving changes that occurred to documents easier. In this guide, we will take you through the steps to view previous versions of word document and recover them.

To use this method, you will need to have an active Microsoft 365 subscriber. This is necessary because the version history only exists when the file is saved to OneDrive. The good news is that with your Microsoft 365 member, you also get 1TB of OneDriv storage.

Before proceeding, make sure you save your documents to OneDrive, as this will enable automatic storage. Once your documents are saved, Microsoft Word will start storing different versions of your files.

View Previous Versions of Word Document

Viewing previous versions of Word documents is easy. You can click on the file name in the top bar of Microsoft Word. The other option is to click the “Files” button in the menu bar above, then select “Information” and then click on “Version History” button.

The version history panel will appear on the right side of your screen, showing the latest version of the document at the top. Word handles changes by date conveniently, making it easier to find older versions of larger documents.

To view a specific version of the document, click “Open Version”. You can specify an older version by checking the “Previous Version” label on the document.
If you want to see what has changed, click on the “compare” button in the same line. This will create a new document highlighting the difference between the selected version and the previous one.
To delve deeper into the changes, click the up arrow icon below “Edits”. This will provide details of the changes made in this version of the document.
In the Edit window, you can see the changes made in the document in detail. You can scroll down the left-hand bar to see all the changes.
On the right you will notice a vertical red line on the side of some of the lines. This indicates that changes have occurred in this model. For a more detailed view of the changes, go to the “Review” menu, click on the arrow down at the back of “Easy Mark” and select “View All Markings”. This will show red additions with white emphasis and negatives with scratches.
Once you’re done checking the changes, don’t hesitate to save the necessary driver.

5 Ways to Recover Previous Versions of Word Documents

Method 1: Restore previous versions of Word documents with Word AutoSave

Besides view previous versions of Word document, Word has an automatic saving feature that automatically tracks changes to receive previous versions of Word documents through automatic save:

Situation 1: If you have saved the file:

Open your Word document
Click on the file button in the upper left corner.
Go to Information > Manage Document. You will see a list of Word files named “Autosave” on the right, which makes it easier to find the desired version.
Select a Word document and open it.
Click the reset button on the tape to save to a secure location.

Situation 2: If you haven’t saved the file yet:

Open your Word document
Go to File > Information > Manage Document
Select unsaved document recovery
Open the version you want to recover.
After revitalization, save the file as a new document via the format save option.

Method 2: Restore previous versions of Word documents with file recovery software.

Your computer creates.tmp and.asd backups when you work with Word files. If the above methods don’t work, you can use recovery software such as WinfrGUI to recover these files.

Download and install WinfrGUI from the official website.
Open the program and select the drive or folder where you lost.tmp or.asd files. Press the Start button.
WinfrGUI will start the scanning process and display recoverable files. All unsaved files will be sorted so that they can be easily accessed.
Use the search or filter function to quickly find the desired file type.
Click Recover to restore the backup of your Word document.

Method 3: Restore your Word document through the previous version of Windows.

Windows will automatically save previous versions of files as “recovery points” in Windows 10. You can access these versions through file surveys.

Go to the location of the Word document you want to recover.
Right-click on the file and select properties
In the previous version tab, you will find a list of previous versions. Select the version you want to download.
Click Open. If you only want to view files or copy text, click Restore if you want to replace an existing version.

Method 4: Restore previous version from backup

If you have a backup of your files, you can easily restore an earlier version of your Word document.

Find your backup, whether it’s an external hard drive or a cloud storage service.
Move to a folder containing a Word document backup
Select the desired version of the document, which may have a time or model number.
Copy the version and place it where you want it on your computer, or download it from a cloud storage service.

Method 5: Restore previous versions of Word documents using MS Word file history

In Microsoft 365, automatically saved files are stored in OneDrive, where you can access previous versions in the version history.

Open your Word document
Select the file at the top left.
Click Info > Version History
Opens a new tab called “Generation History” on the right.
Select a version and click Open version
To make sure that the open version is the version you want to restore, click Restore if it is. You can also use the comparison option, which highlights the change compared to the previous version.

Bonus Tip: Enable automatic backup in Microsoft Word

To avoid future complications, you can enable automatic document backup in Word.

Open Word document
Go to File > Options
In the advanced section of the new window, go to the log section and select “Always make backups”.
Click OK to save changes.

By following these methods, you have a reliable solution to view previous versions of word document, and recover your previous version of Word document. With the protection of your valuable work, you can navigate any document recovery situation with confidence. Do not let rewrite errors or unsaved changes interfere with your progress anymore. Control the art of recovering previous versions of Word documents using this comprehensive guide.