How to Recover Unsaved Word Document After Computer Restarts/Shutdown

How to Recover an Unsaved Word When the Computer Shuts Down

My computer shut down and I lost my Word document, how to recover unsaved Word document 2007 after shutting down? There are three useful solutions you can try to retrieve when you forgot to save a word document.

In fact, none of the data recovery software on the market can recover unsaved Word documents. Typically, third-party software only helps when you at least have an original file located on your computer's hard disk or a connected USB drive. You can use these data recovery tools to restore lost saved Word document which is later missing due to accidental deletion, disk formatting, virus attack, partition loss, etc.

But if you want to recover a document that didn't save by a computer crash or shutting down, the answer is NO, even the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard software on this page, which is very famous in the field of data recovery. Then, how to recover when you forget to save a Word document after the computer restarts? Follow the three effective solutions below. 

How to Recover an Unsaved Word Document After Computer Restarts

Microsoft Office offers users the AutoRecover to restore the on-editing Word document automatically. You can enable this function by going to "File" > "Options" > "Save" > checking "Save AutoRecover". You can change the time of the AutoSave interval. As long as this feature starts to work, you can recover the unsaved Word document after a computer restart, crash, or shutting down with the following methods. If your Word version is below version 2010, see another post on how to recover unsaved Word document 2007/2003.

Method 1. Recover from Recent Documents (Word 2010/2013/2016/2019)

• Open Word application and click the "Open" > "File" tab.
• Click "Recent".
• Scroll to the bottom of your Recent Documents and then click "Recover Unsaved Documents".
• The saved drafts will open in a new window. Click "Save As" to restore the disappeared unsaved Word document after a computer problem.

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Method 2. Recover from Manage Document

• Run Word > open a new file or an existing file.
• Click the "File" tab > "Info" > click "Manage Document".
• Click "Recover Unsaved Documents".
• You will see the list of your unsaved files. Select the file and click "Open" > "Save As" to store the Word file. 

Method 3. Recover from Temporary Files

• You can find the temp files in this path: C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles.
• Choose the one you need to recover and open with Word application to save again. 

If you have deleted the Unsaved Files folder and lost all the temporary files, you can use EaseUS Data Recovery to restore the deleted tempory files. 

How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Windows 10/8/7 

As explained before, a data recovery tool can't help you get back the unsaved Word document, but it provides you with an effective and easy way to recover deleted files. And EaseUS EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, a renowned document recovery program, enables you to restore lost DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, PPT/PPTX, PDF, CWK, HTML/HTM, INDD, and EPS with a few clicks. 

Step 1. Choose the Word file location

Choose the drive or a specific folder and click the "Scan" button.

Step 2. Locate your Word files

The software will start immediately scanning all lost data on the selected drive. After the scan, click the "Documents" option in the left panel. Choose "Word" from the category bar. Then, click "Preview".

Step 3. Recover Word files

After previewing the lost Word files, select the desired Word files and click "Recover". Then, select a folder to store the Word files.

My Computer Shut Down and I Lost My Word Document FAQs

Here are more topics on how to recover Word documents when computer shuts down.

1. How do I recover an unsaved Word document 2007 after shutting down?

If your computer shut down and you lost your Word document, you can recover unsaved Word document 2007 in three ways, either recover from recent documents, manage document, or from temporary files.

2. Can I recover a word doc that I didn't save?

If you forgot to save Word document or your computer restarted and lost Word document, you can use the AutoRecover feature to recover unsaved Word document. Open Word, click the File tab > click Info > click Manage Document > click Recover Unsaved Documents. Then, find the unsaved Word document, click Open > Save As.

3. How do I recover an unsaved Word document in 2019?

Same as all previous versions of Word, Word 2019 also has the AutoRecover feature to help users recover unsaved Word document when computer shuts down. You can enable this function by going to File > Options > Save > checking Save AutoRecover. Once this function works, it can save your on-editing Word document at regular intervals. So you can recover unsaved Word document that didn't save.