Where Mac stores unsaved Word documents

When you close Word without saving, macOS doesn't throw your work away when ready. Word keeps a temporary copy in a hidden folder on your Mac, and you can usually recover it. The location depends on which version of Word you have — Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 — but the recovery process is similar across all of them.

Word also creates automatic recovery files every 10 minutes by default, even if you never manually save. These files sit in a specific folder that Word checks when it reopens. If Word crashed or you force-quit it, the next time you open Word it will offer to recover your document automatically. If you closed Word normally without saving, you'll need to dig into the recovery folder yourself.

Key Takeaways

  • Word automatically saves recovery copies every 10 minutes to a hidden folder, even if you never manually save the document.
  • If Word crashed, it will offer to recover your document the next time you open it — accept the offer when ready.
  • If you closed Word normally, you can find unsaved documents by opening Word, going to File > Open Recent, and looking for a "Recover Unsaved Documents" button.
  • If that doesn't work, you can manually navigate to the recovery folder at ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Autosave Information/ and look for your file.
  • Recovery files are temporary and may be deleted after 30 days, so act quickly if you remember closing an important document unsaved.

Using Word's built-in recovery feature

The fastest way to recover an unsaved document is through Word itself. Open Microsoft Word, then click File in the menu bar. Look for a button or link that says "Recover Unsaved Documents" — this appears near the bottom of the File menu. Click it, and Word will show you a list of any unsaved documents it has stored.

Select the document you want to recover and click Open. Word will open the recovered version in a new window. You can then save it with a filename and location of your choice. This method works for documents you closed without saving, as well as documents that were open when Word crashed.

If you don't see a "Recover Unsaved Documents" option, your version of Word may not have stored a recovery copy, or the recovery folder is empty. In that case, move to the manual recovery method below.

Manual recovery through the hidden Library folder

If the built-in recovery feature doesn't find your document, you can search the recovery folder directly. First, open Finder. Press Command + Shift + G to open the "Go to Folder" dialog. Type this path exactly: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Autosave Information/ and press Enter.

Finder will take you to the folder where Word stores automatic recovery files. Look for files with names that match your document or the date you were working on it. Recovery files often have names like "Document1" or show a timestamp. Select any file that might be yours, and drag it to your Desktop or Documents folder.

Once you've moved the file, try opening it with Word. If it opens, you can save it with a proper filename. If it doesn't open or shows corrupted text, the file may be too damaged to recover — this is rare, but it happens if Word was force-quit in the middle of writing the recovery file.

What to do if Word crashed

If Word crashed rather than closed normally, the recovery process is usually automatic. The next time you open Word, it will display a dialog asking whether you want to recover your documents. Click "Recover" or "Yes" when ready — don't click "Don't Recover" or close the dialog without responding.

Word will open your recovered document in a new window. The document will be marked as recovered, and you should save it right away with a permanent filename. Use File > Save As to choose where you want to keep it on your Mac.

If Word doesn't show a recovery dialog when you reopen it, the crash may not have triggered Word's recovery system. In that case, use the manual recovery method described above to search the Autosave Information folder.

How long Word keeps recovery files

Word typically keeps unsaved recovery files for about 30 days. After that, Word deletes them automatically to free up space. If you closed a document unsaved more than a month ago, the recovery file may no longer exist on your Mac.

This is why it's important to check for unsaved documents as soon as you realize you didn't save. The sooner you recover the file, the more certain you are that it still exists. If you're looking for a document you closed unsaved weeks or months ago, recovery is unlikely to work.

Preventing unsaved document loss in the future

Word's automatic recovery is helpful, but it's not a substitute for saving. The most reliable way to protect your work is to save manually and often. Use Command + S while you're working, or enable AutoSave if you're using Microsoft 365 and storing documents in OneDrive or SharePoint.

AutoSave saves your document automatically as you type, without you having to do anything. It's turned on by default for Microsoft 365 subscribers who save to cloud storage. If you save documents to your Mac's local drive instead, AutoSave won't work — you'll need to save manually or use Word's AutoRecover feature, which you can adjust in Word > Preferences > Save.

You can also increase how often Word creates recovery copies. In Word > Preferences > Save, look for "Save AutoRecover information every X minutes" and change the number to something shorter, like 5 minutes instead of 10. This gives you more frequent snapshots of your work, though it uses slightly more disk space.

When recovery isn't possible

Recovery fails in a few specific situations. If your Mac's hard drive is full or nearly full, Word may not be able to write recovery files. If you've emptied the Trash after closing Word, and the recovery files were in Trash, they're gone. If your Mac crashed hard — a power loss or kernel panic — the recovery file itself may be corrupted and unreadable.

If you've tried both the built-in recovery feature and manual recovery in the Autosave Information folder and found nothing, the document is likely unrecoverable. In that case, your only option is to recreate the document from memory or from any notes or drafts you have elsewhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover a document I deleted from the Trash?

Not through Word's recovery system — that only works for unsaved documents that were open in Word. If you deleted a saved document file from Trash, you may be able to recover it using Mac's Time Machine backup or a third-party recovery tool, but that's a different process from Word's AutoRecover.

Why doesn't Word show a recovery dialog when I open it after a crash?

Word only shows a recovery dialog if it detects that it closed unexpectedly. If you force-quit Word or your Mac lost power, Word usually recognizes this and offers recovery. If you closed Word normally and then realized you didn't save, Word won't show a recovery dialog because it closed as expected — use the File > Recover Unsaved Documents method instead.

Are recovery files encrypted or private?

Recovery files are stored in your user Library folder, which is protected by your Mac login. Only you and administrators can access them. However, they are temporary files, not encrypted, so if someone gains access to your Mac, they could potentially read unsaved documents you thought were gone. If privacy is a concern, delete the Autosave Information folder manually after you've recovered what you need.

What if the recovered document is corrupted or shows strange characters?

Corruption sometimes happens if Word was interrupted while writing the recovery file. Try opening the file in a different process — Google Docs or Apple Pages can sometimes read damaged Word files better than Word itself. If that doesn't work, the file is likely too damaged to recover. You may be able to extract some text by opening it in a plain text editor, though formatting will be lost.

Does this work the same way for Word on older Macs?

The process is the same for Word 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365 on Mac. The recovery folder path is identical across all versions. If you're using an extremely old version of Word (pre-2016), the recovery folder location may be different — check Microsoft's support documentation for your specific version.