Word Document Disappeared on Mac: 5 Proven Fixes in 2024

Brithny updated on Feb 26, 2024 to Mac File Recovery | How-to Articles

This article will introduce why and how to retrieve Word documents that have disappeared on a Mac. Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover disappeared Word documents on a Mac!

Have you ever had a Word document disappear on Mac for no apparent reason? This post will introduce 5 proven fixes to solve the problem of Word documents disappearing on a Mac problem. Keep reading.

Fix 1. Recover Disappeared Word Documents on Mac with Software

Professional file recovery software EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac helps you recover Word documents that have disappeared on your Mac due to unknown reasons. The EaseUS software can recover disappeared Word documents, lost Excel files, and deleted PDF files at a high rate.

It can recover your Word documents under different situations, such as:

Launch this powerful tool to follow the steps to recover your disappeared Word documents:

Note: You can create a backup by clicking the "Disk Backup" on the left first. The software will recover the document from the backup image. It can prevent further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step 1. Scan for lost documents

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages documents were lost and click "Search for lost files".

Step 2. Find lost documents on Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately start a scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane. Select "Documents" and you can quickly filter the DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files you've lost earlier.

Step 3. Recover lost/deleted documents

Select the target files and preview them by double-clicking them. Then, click "Recover" to get lost documents back at once.

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Fix 2. Use Finder to Locate the Disappeared Word Documents on Mac

Word documents may disappear after you move them to other storage locations. In this case, you can use Finder to locate the disappeared Word documents by the following steps:

Step 1. Open "Finder" on your Mac Dock, type the disappeared Word document name or the ".doc/.docx" file extension, and hit "Enter".

Step 2. Select the Word document from the search results if it works, and drag it to a safe storage location on your Mac.

Fix 3. Put Back Disappeared Word Documents from Mac Trash

After you delete a Word document, it will move to the Mac Trash bin and stay for 30 days; you can recover deleted files on a Mac by following the steps below:

Step 1. Click the trash bin icon on Mac Dock to open the "Bin" folder.

Step 2. Choose the deleted Word document in the Bin folder, control-click on it, and select the "Put Back" option to return it to its original storage location.

If the Put Back option is missing on your Mac, don't worry!

Install the powerful file recovery software EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to restore deleted Word documents.

Fix 4. Retrieve the Disappeared Word Documents from the Temporary Folder

Besides, you can retrieve the disappeared Word documents on your Mac from the Word temporary files. Check out the following steps:

Step 1. Lunch Mac Terminal from the "Applications > Utilities" folder.

Step 2. Type open $TMPDIR and press "Enter" to open the Temporary folder.

Step 3. Select the disappeared Word document under "TemporaryItems" and retrieve it.

Fix 5. Restore Disappeared Word Documents Using Time Machine

Suppose you have backed up your disappeared documents before; you can restore them with Time Machine backups. Follow the steps:

Step 1. Open Time Machine by clicking the Time Machine icon at the top menu.

Step 2. Select the "Browse Time Machine Backups" option, and select a backup by date and time. Then click "Restore" to restore the disappeared Word document.

Conclusion

This article introduces 5 effective ways to fix a Word document disappearing on Mac issue: using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover the disappeared Word document on your Mac, locating the disappeared document by Finder, restoring the Word document from the Bin folder by clicking "Put Back", retrieving it from the Temporary folder, and restoring it from a Time Machine backup.

The most effective way is to install the EaseUS software to recover your disappeared Word document on your Mac without any restriction! Try it as soon as possible to maximize the chance of recovery.

Word Documents Disappeared on a Mac FAQs

Here are questions people frequently ask when they search for how to recover disappeared Word documents on a Mac; take a look.

1. Why did my Word document disappear?

There are many causes for a Word document disappearing on a Mac, such as users forgetting to save the Word document, accidentally deleting it, changing its storage location, etc. A system crash on the Word app may also cause the editing Word document to disappear.

2. How do I find a disappeared Word document on a Mac?

You can find the disappeared Word document with 5 effective methods as follows: