Unable to recover unsaved Word Doc file from AutoRecovery

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Level 1

9 points

Unable to recover unsaved Word Doc file from AutoRecovery

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to locate the auto recovery file for an unsaved word document. I'm on OS X and tried the go to solution : Click Finder > Go > Hold down the Option key and choose Library > Application Support > Microsoft > Office > Office 2011 AutoRecovery.

However, the Microsoft folder doesn't even exist in Application support?! I checked my word settings and it is set up to save documents for autorecovery every 10 mins. I've been searching for hours on how to recover the file but can't find anything related to my situation. Hope someone can help 😟

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Apr 12, 2016 11:19 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

AliceHelmick

Level 1

4 points

Nov 17, 2017 2:19 PM in response to deannajsee

If you are running Office 2011 for Mac (whether as part of Office 365 or not) the correct path to the AutoRecovery-folder is this :

~/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery

And if you are running Office 2016 for Mac (whether or not as part of Office 365) the correct path to the Word 15‘s AutoRecovery-folder(s) is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

for PowerPoint 15 the correct path is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.PowerPoint/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

and for Excel 15 the correct path is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

You may need to rename any files you find there as .doc instead of .docx if they won't open properly.

Maybe you can try uFlysoftData Recovery for Mac, it can recover LOST DATA on Mac only in three steps:

Step 1. Launch the software to scan the device where your files deleted

Step 2: Preview the scan result files and make mark if it is the one you find

Step 3: Recover files

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Answer 2

judysings

Community Specialist

Apr 14, 2016 9:27 AM in response to deannajsee

Hello deannajsee,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

I see you didn't save a file created in Microsoft Word 2011, and you're trying to recover it. According to the Microsoft documentation, you should be able to recover the file from that specific location you mentioned. They do note however that if you chose the option "Don't Save," then the file is deleted.

Find an automatically saved or recovered file

The next time that you open an application, files in the AutoRecovery folder are listed in the Open Recent list. Or you can find the files in the /Users/ username/Library/Application Support/ Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery.

In the Finder, find automatically saved files in /Users/ username/Library/Application Support/ Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery.

NOTE: If you close a file and click Don't Save, the file is deleted from the AutoRecovery folder.

Automatically save and recover files

If you need any further support with your Microsoft products, then you can get in contact with them by using the link below:

Contact Office Support

Take care.

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