Level 1

2 points

How to find a lost file in Microsoft Office Autorecovery

Hi - This isn't really a question, though it would have been a couple of hours ago.

After saving all his files, closing them and closing all apps, my husband rebooted his Mac Pro (Lion). When it restarted, his key Excel file wasn't there. There was no trace of it in Finder, and no trace in Time Machine. A search by Date Modified or File Name didn't show the file anywhere, either. It was like it had been sucked out of the computer and the Time Machine hard drive completely.

Cheering as that thought is, there is another answer.

Microsoft Office has an Autorecovery function that saves files when, for example, there's a power failure. These files are located on the home drive, in the Library (press Option when you click "GO" in the Finder command line at the top of the screen, otherwise Library is invisible). In Library, there is a folder called Application Support. In that folder are folders for a number of applications, one of which is Microsoft. In the Microsoft folder, there is a folder called Office. In that folder are a number of folders, one of which is Office 2011 AutoRecovery. Click that, and any files saved by the autorecovery function will appear.

Hierarchically:

Finder

Library

Application Support

Microsoft

Office

Office 2011 AutoRecovery

The key thing to realize here is that a file which gets saved in Autorecovery DOES NOT appear in any searches by date modified, name of file, etc. It's as if it is hidden completely after being saved. When you turn the computer back on after a power failure, the file pops up and does say something about recovery, but if you're not looking for it, it's easy to miss. As long as you have the file open and keep saving, there's no problem - it's just that when you close it, it seems to have disappeared completely!

I found this information on the Microsoft help pages under a slightly different heading:

http://http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2650066#Method3

So for what it's worth, that's the story, and I hope it saves someone the sheer panic of not being able to find a file in Office.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Sep 8, 2012 5:35 PM

Top-ranking reply

Sierra Mike Kilo

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Jul 21, 2017 4:30 PM

Hi Folks,

I had this issue last night and I could find your path - I was stuck after 'Go'! Could not find 'Library' anywhere.

Called the lovely Apple Support Folk and the extra little trick is to search for the folder instead via Spotlight. Although a normal search won't bring it up, therefore try:

Hit Command + Space bar,
Type: ~/Library,
Hit Return

Then follow the prompts:

Application Support

Microsoft

Office

Office 2011 AutoRecovery

Happy Searching! :-)

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202 replies

j_cush

Level 1

0 points

Sep 24, 2015 11:11 AM in response to margb

LEDGEND

Javiter

Level 1

0 points

Sep 27, 2015 4:21 PM in response to rucope

THANK YOU!!!

My daughter had lost half a days work on one of her final papers.

It worked like charm. You should work tech support. It was very easy to find.

Again, Thank you!

Frank

Mgallego

Level 1

4 points

Oct 8, 2015 1:15 PM in response to margb

Thank you SO much, you saved my life. I couldn't figure out how to access Library, let alone how to find the AutoRecovery folder. Eternally grateful.

BLKK65

Level 1

0 points

Oct 8, 2015 5:54 PM in response to margb

OMG! You saved my bacon! I knew it had to be there, I have a new Mac, it's barely got ANYTHING on it, thank you thank you, I think you should get a reward! Why the #$(%& is the Library thing hidden? Why isnt a document that you KNOW has to be there, not there. I was ready to ask Hillary Clinton for a job, because I was sure I had forever and totally LOST the document.

SergTT

Level 1

0 points

Oct 28, 2015 1:53 PM in response to margb

Thank you so much!

Nov 5, 2015 10:58 AM in response to Archiiii

Thank you SO much. Saved my husband a ton of work, and me too (as appointed tech support for the family).

🙂

polymer8

Level 1

0 points

Nov 15, 2015 4:37 PM in response to margb

Lifesaver!

RLRich29

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2015 5:58 PM in response to margb

THANK YOU SO MUCH. Took me about an hour to go through all the different options but just recovered a days worth of coursework. So happy I could cry. Yes another person who made an account just to be able to say thank you!! 😁

Klahane

Level 1

33 points

Nov 17, 2015 11:49 AM in response to margb

This is coming rather late in the game, but I just found this thread and it saved a file that we though was unrecoverable. Thank you.

After getting the file back, I did some testing and found that Microsoft flags the asd files as "system" files. So doing a Finder Spotlight search (command F in the Finder) and looking for only visible files will fail. So will looking for visible or invisible files. But this combination works:

Name > contains [part of file name] + System files > are included

By the way, Word 2011 help shows the wrong location for the folder (in El Capitan).

Furthermore, we found that though you can open the auto recovery file by double clicking it, a subsequent save creates a .doc file that Word can't open. If you choose Save As, and choose .docx, the resulting file will open normally in Word 2011.

qttro

Level 1

0 points

Nov 24, 2015 1:52 AM in response to margb

I know this is 3 years old but you just saved me a nervous breakdown!!

Nov 29, 2015 9:14 PM in response to margb

Thank you so much! You just saved me a lot of headache!

On OS X Yosemite, you can see the Library folder using below method.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2057221/how-to-view-the-library-folder-in-maveri cks.html

Dec 10, 2015 12:34 PM in response to margb

Hey all,

I was really glad to find this post. I had a window that popped up after a forced reboot about recovering my excel files when I was in a hurry and accidentally hit cancel before I had processed what it was. I got all the way to the Office 2011 AutoRecovery but I hit a couple snags. Number 1 I see only Word files when I am looking for an excel. Number two, some of the files don't have an extension or a file name and I suspect they may be Excel, but when I try to open them I get a document in use or wrongly named error. Any Ideas?

Dec 17, 2015 10:40 PM in response to margb

3 steps to recover deleted Excel documents

Free download and install uFlysoft Data Recovery on your Mac. Then launch it. Next, let's try the Excel data recovery on Mac together.

Step1. Select the disk for scan

You are here to specify the disk where you lost your Excel files for scan.

Besides the Macintosh HD, this Excel recovery software also supports the recovery of removable devices, as long as your computer can detect them.

Step2. Find out your lost Excel and Recover

After the scanning, all recoverable files are displayed in the scanning result. You can check them one by one.

To save your time, you can use the "Filter options" to set the file type and only leave the one you want. Select "Document" as the file type and check "XLS" and "XLSX". Then there are only Excel files left. Check and recover them by hitting on the "Recover" button.

Step3. Save the recoverable data anywhere you like

We highly suggest you select another directory which is different from the source one, in case it would eventually overwrite the source data. If there is only one partition, you can save the data on a removable device.

Daja13

Level 1

0 points

Dec 20, 2015 10:50 AM in response to margb

HEELPPP! I can't seem to find the Microsoft file in my Application Support!?

I have OS X Yosemite.

Jan 16, 2016 12:20 PM in response to margb

I'm glad you posted this! I'm currently trying to figure this out while following your instructions. I'm still having a little trouble though...While I have found the Go tab in Finder, I cannot find Library. This is what it looks like for me:

Any ideas on how I can get there from here? I've been working on my document for weeks now and started over on it yesterday until I found your post today! I would love to pick up where I left off before it was seemingly sucked out of my computer!! Thanks in advance!

-Christine

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How to find a lost file in Microsoft Office Autorecovery