Where Word Stores Unsaved Files

Microsoft Word automatically saves drafts of documents you have not yet saved yourself. These temporary files sit in a hidden folder on your computer, and Word can usually recover them even after you close the program without saving. The location depends on which version of Word you use and which operating system runs your computer.

On Windows with Microsoft 365 or Word 2019 and later, Word stores these recovery files in C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles. On a Mac, the folder is ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Autosave Information. If you use an older version of Word (2016 or earlier on Windows), the path is C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word. The AppData folder is hidden by default, so you will need to show hidden files before you can navigate there.

Key Takeaways

  • Word saves automatic recovery files every 10 minutes by default, so you can usually recover a document even if you closed it without saving.
  • The fastest way to recover a recent document is to open Word, go to File > Info > Manage All Versions, and look for the version marked "autosave".
  • If that does not work, you can manually navigate to Word's hidden recovery folder and look for your document by the date it was last modified.
  • Older versions of Word (2016 and earlier) store recovery files in a different folder, so the path you use depends on which Word version you have.
  • If you cannot find your document in the recovery folder, check your computer's Recycle Bin or Trash, since Word may have moved it there instead.

Using Word's Built-In Recovery Tool

The easiest way to recover an unsaved document is to let Word do the work for you. Open Microsoft Word and click File in the top left corner. Then click Info, and you will see a section called Manage All Versions or Versions depending on your Word version. Click that button, and Word will show you a list of recent versions of documents you have worked on, including ones marked "autosave".

Look for the document you lost and the date and time it was last modified. Click on it, and Word will open that version in a new window. If it is the right one, click Save As to save it with a permanent name and location. If it is not the right version, close that window and try the next one on the list.

This method works best if you have closed Word recently. If Word crashed or your computer lost power, Word may show you a recovery prompt the next time you open the program — a dialog box asking whether you want to recover unsaved documents. Click Yes or Recover, and Word will open the recovered files automatically.

Finding Recovery Files Manually on Windows

If Word's built-in recovery tool does not show your document, you can search the recovery folder yourself. First, you need to show hidden files, because the AppData folder is hidden by default. Open File Explorer and click View at the top. Look for an option called Hidden items or Show hidden files and click it to turn it on.

Now navigate to C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles. Replace [Your Username] with your actual Windows username. Inside this folder, you will see files with names like "Document1" or random strings of numbers and letters. These are your unsaved documents. Look at the date modified column to find the one you were working on. Right-click the file, select Open with, and choose Microsoft Word.

If you use an older version of Word, check C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word instead. The process is the same — look for files by their modification date, open them with Word, and save them with a proper name once you confirm they are the right document.

Finding Recovery Files on Mac

On a Mac, the recovery folder is hidden inside the Library directory. Open Finder and click Go in the menu bar at the top. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard — this will make a Library option appear in the dropdown menu. Click Library.

Navigate to Containers, then com.microsoft.Word, then Data, then Library, then Autosave Information. Inside this folder you will find files representing your unsaved documents. Double-click the file you want to recover, and Word will open it. Save it with a permanent name and location using File > Save As.

What to Do If Recovery Files Are Not There

If you cannot find your document in the recovery folder, check your Recycle Bin on Windows or Trash on Mac. Word sometimes moves unsaved files there instead of keeping them in the recovery folder. Open Recycle Bin or Trash, look for files with the name or date you remember, right-click them, and select Restore to move them back to your computer.

If the file is not in the Recycle Bin or Trash either, the document may be permanently lost. This is more likely if your computer crashed, lost power, or ran out of storage space. To prevent this in the future, change Word's autosave settings. Open Word, go to File > Options > Save (or Word > Preferences > Save on Mac), and increase the autosave interval from the default 10 minutes to something shorter, like 5 minutes. You can also turn on AutoRecover if it is not already on.

How to Prevent Losing Documents Again

The most reliable way to avoid losing work is to save your document with a name and location as soon as you start typing. Press Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac, choose a folder, type a name, and click Save. After that, Word will save your changes automatically every time you pause typing.

If you use Microsoft 365, you can also enable AutoSave by saving your document to OneDrive, SharePoint, or another cloud storage service instead of your local hard drive. With AutoSave on, Word saves your document continuously as you type, and you can recover earlier versions by going to File > Info > Version History. This gives you much more control over what you recover and when.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does Word keep autosave files?

Word keeps autosave files for four days by default. After that, it deletes them automatically. If you have not recovered your document within four days, the autosave file will no longer be available, though you may still find it in your Recycle Bin or Trash if you have not emptied those folders.

Can I recover a document if I turned off autosave?

No. If you disabled autosave in Word's settings, Word will not create recovery files, and there will be nothing to recover. You can only recover documents that Word was actively saving in the background.

What if the recovered document is corrupted or incomplete?

Autosave files are sometimes incomplete because they were interrupted when Word closed. If the recovered document is missing content or will not open, try opening it with a different program like Google Docs or LibreOffice, which can sometimes read damaged Word files. If that does not work, the document may be unrecoverable.

Does OneDrive or Google Drive autosave work the same way?

No. OneDrive and Google Drive save complete versions of your document at intervals, not temporary recovery files. You recover older versions through the cloud service's version history, not through a hidden folder on your computer. The process is different but usually more reliable because the versions are stored on a server, not just on your device.