Confounded: single missing MS Word file on MacBook Pro after overheating
Has anyone else had a single file go missing on their MacBook Pro?
This isn't a case of a whole Documents folder going, missing. No, a single MS Word file is just GONE. I can't find it. If anyone has any ideas about how to find and recover it, I would love to know. Here are the facts:
- I was working on a saved MS Word file. My MacBook Pro was overheating, so I saved the file and closed Word. Then I shut down my computer for the night. I turn on my computer the next morning, go to the folder where the file is saved. It is gone. None of my other Word files seem to be missing.
- I open Word and try to open the file via "Open Recent." It is listed on MS Word, but I get a message saying that the filed is "deleted" or "not accessible."
- The file is not in my Trash. I certainly did not put it there, but I checked anyway. Neither have I emptied my Trash in a while, so all the other deleted files are still there.
- I used the "Search" function in the Finder window to search for the file by name. It does not exist on my computer.
- I then went into the "Recents" folder in the Finder window and sort the files according to "Date Modified" in case the filename was changed somehow. I look through the recent Word files, but none of them are the file I was working on.
- I checked the AutoRecovery folder for Word, but it is also not there. This makes sense since Word did not actually crash (as far as I know).
- I downloaded the free version of Disk Drill and ran the quick scan, but it didn't come up with specific files. It just listed my hard drive with no further information. Perhaps I was too impatient with it.
I feel really stupid for not having TimeMachine set up, but this is less of a question about backups and more of a question of: How is it possible for a single saved file to just disappear like this? Has anyone else have this happen to them? Is it possible connected to the overheating?
It is as though a ghost logged onto my computer during the night and deleted that single file and then deleted it permanently from the Trash. No one uses my computer but me. I don't have kids running around using my computer or anything. I am absolutely flabbergasted.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13
