Oct 29,2019 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
The Search window offers more options and more kinds of searches than the Find toolbar. When you use the Search window, object data and image XIF (extended image file format) metadata are also searched. For searches across multiple PDFs, Acrobat also looks at document properties and XMP metadata, and it searches indexed structure tags when searching a PDF index.
Open the document that you want to help protect. On the Word menu, click Preferences. Under Personal Settings, click Security. In the Password to modify box, type a password, and then click OK. In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again, and then click OK.
The command you'll find usedul is command-F. (Command may also show the 'apple' key on your keyboard, so the one next to spacebar). You may also find this document useful - it has all Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts in it.
Case 1: I accidentally deleted a Word document on my Mac.
Case 2: Word document files unexpectedly closes and aren't saved.
Case 3: I lost my Word document on Mac due to the sudden shutdown or crash.
Word document accidentally deleted or lost before saving? When it happens, you can first go to the Mac Trash to restore them to the original location. If not, take it easy. In this article, we will offer the best 3 ways to help you recover lost, deleted or unsaved Word document on Mac.
Way 1 How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac
Your Word files can be deleted or lost due to careless or wrong deletion, Option-Shift-Command-Delete or Shift-Command-Delete clicking, system crash, virus attack, hard drive formatting, hard drive corruption and more. Regardless of the causes, we can surely tell you that 'Yes, you can recover a deleted or lost Word document'. As long as you get a powerful Mac data recovery software, you can easily and quickly recover Word document.
1. Recoverit - The Best Software for Word Document Recovery
As for the powerful Word document recovery tool, we recommend Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac. This file recovery program is safe and reliable. It can easily and effectively help you recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac and Windows, even your Word document files are not saved. Follow the next guide to recover deleted, lost or unsaved Word document on Mac.
2. How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac
In this section, we're going to provide the specific solution for deleted or lost Word file recovery on Mac. If you're searching for a solution on Windows, please download the Windows version and take the same steps.
Video Guide to Word Document Recovery on Mac
How Do I Recover a Deleted or Lost Word Document
Free download and install Recoverit Mac Data Recovery on your computer. Follow the next steps to perform deleted files recovery on Mac. Just in 3 steps and minutes, you can get lost files back instantly.
Select a Word file location
To recover deleted or lost Word files on Mac, you need to select a location where your Word document were stored. Click 'Start' to get started.
Scan for lost Word files
Recoverit File Recovery Software will start to scan the hard disk. It will take for a while to deep scan and search the location for deleted files.
Preview and recover Word document
After the scanning, you can check all recoverable files. Preview some recovered photos, select your Word document files and click 'Recover' button to get them back.
With Recoverit Data Recovery, you can easily recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac. The reliable data recovery software will keep your system or data private. Download and try it for free now.
If you just find your Word document won't be opened, don't worry. We also offer 4 solutions for you. Turn to this page and fix 'Microsoft Word Won't Open on Mac'.
Way 2AutoRecovery: How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac
For Word documents not saved promptly, there are also some methods to help get them back. The first method is AutoRecovery. Microsoft Word has an auto save function, which saves your data in a specified folder. In this method, you don't need any Word recovery software. Now, what we're going to do is accessing that folder to retrieve your lost files. Follow the steps:
Access this path Finder/Go/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery. Please bear in mind that you have to press the 'Option' key while clicking 'Go' in finder to be able to access 'Library' folder which is usually hidden;
Once you see your file, open it;
Save your file in any location;
You have successfully recovered your file.
Way 3TMP Folder: Recover Word Document Not Saved on Mac
The last way you can resort to for Mac Word document recovery is to open Temporary folder with Terminal.
Find and open 'Terminal' in Utilities.
Type 'open $TMPDIR' and press 'Enter'.
Find and open the TMP Folder named 'TemporaryItems'
Select and save the unsaved Word documents you want.
Microsoft messenger for mac. Usually, your Word document not saved promptly should be in the temporary folder on Mac. If you do not find them, that's because you have deleted them or clean up the folder.
To Wrap Up
It doesn't matter which method you are using to perform lost or deleted Word files recovery on Mac as long as you can get your files back. However, if you lost your files and can't get them back with the Office features, then I suggest you use the Recoverit Word File Recovery Software. It is a truely reliable and workable tool to help you recover Word document on Mac. Keynote files recovery can be also done with it.
Note: Recover Lost Mac Data under Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra)
Due to macOS High Sierra (macOS 10.13) requirement, Mac users are not allowed an access to the built-in system drive from any apps. Therefore, if you need to restore lost data from the system disk under macOS 10.13, please 'disable System Integrity Protection' first.
How to disable 'System Integrity protection'? Please follow the steps below.
Step 1On hearing the startup chime, reboot the Mac and hold down'Command + R' keys simultaneously to boot OS X into Recovery Mode.
Step 2When the 'OS X Utilities' screen appears, pull down the 'Utilities' menu at the top of the screen instead, and choose 'Terminal'.
Step 3In the 'Terminal' window, type in 'csrutil disable' and press 'Enter' then restart your Mac.
What's Wrong with Mac
Recover Your Mac
Fix Your Mac
Delete Your Mac
Learn Mac Hacks
Summary
Accidentally, you closed your Word without saving the work on Mac. Luckily, there is still a probability to recover your unsaved Word document on Mac OS X or macOS. According to the features of Microsoft Word for Mac, you may find the unsaved item from the Recovered items folder, Temporary Folder, or AutoRecovery folder. Besides, if you unintentionally deleted your Word document, you can get it back easily with EaseUS free data recovery software.
PAGE CONTENT:
Part 1. About Microsoft Word for Mac
Part 2. Recover Unsaved Word Documents (3 Methods)
Part 3. Bonus Tips to Avoid Losing Word Documents & Recover Permanently Deleted Word Documents
Prospect of Word File Recovery on Mac
Word for Mac temporarily saves documents that the user has not yet saved themselves in a folder named 'Recovered items', located in the Trash. If there are no recovered files, this folder will not appear.
Word for Mac saves a copy of the unsaved document named as Word Work File in the Temporary folder.
Word for Mac includes an AutoRecovery option. It is turned on by default. The app will automatically save a copy of an open Word file every 10 minutes. If Word freezes while you're working on a document, or if the computer crashes, you can use the AutoRecovery copy to recover unsaved Word document with the changes or additions that you made in your last Word for Mac session.
Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac (3 Ways)
Based on the features of Microsoft Word for Mac, there are three potential ways to recover your unsaved Word documents. These methods can also be applied to recover unsaved Excel files on your Mac.
Method 1. Recover from the Recovered items folder in Trash
Step 1. Open 'Trash' by clicking its icon on the dock.
Step 2. Look for a folder labeled 'Recovered items' and click into it to look for your unsaved Word file. If you cannot find it, try the next solution.
Method 2. Recover from the Temporary Folder
Step 1. Go to 'Applications' > 'Utilities' and double-click 'Terminal'.
Step 2. In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR and you will be directed to the TMP folder which is used to keep files temporarily.
Step 3. In the TMP folder, find and open the folder named 'TemporaryItems'. In it, right-click the desired unsaved Word files and 'Open with..' Microsoft Word.
Step 4. Save the Word file by clicking on 'File' > 'Save As' and save it to another location.
Method 3. Recover from the AutoRecovery
Unlike recovering unsaved Word document in Windows, the file recovery on Mac from the AutoRecovery folder is different.
Step 1. Open 'Finder' on your Mac, then head to 'Go' > 'Go to Folder'.
Step 2. Type: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click 'Go'.
Step 3. Open the AutoRecovery folder, locate all the files that start with the words 'AutoRecovery save of'. Select the one you want to recover, rename the file, then add the '.doc' filename extension.
Step 4. Double-click the file. The document now opens in Word for Mac.
Step 5. Click the File menu and select 'Save As'. Type a new name for the file into the Name field, select a folder for the file and click the 'Save' button.
Bonus Tip to Avoid Data Loss & Recover Deleted Word Documents
After suffering from the fear of losing your Word documents, you must not want to experience this kind of situation again. Thus, it's necessary for you to know how to avoid losing your Word files. To avoid completely losing your files, you can:
Tip 1. Save the Word Document Whenever You Create a New One
An ever unsaved Word document exists in the computer's RAM, not on the hard disk. Thus, the chances to save a Word Document that has never been saved before are slim. Knowing this should give you a hint that you should save the word document at least once whenever you create a new one.
Tip 2. Change the AutoSave Interval
After you save your Word document, the AutoSave feature will begin to work. To minimize the loss of the progress on the file you are working, you can change the frequency of AutoSave:
Step 2. Go to 'Word' > 'Preferences' and click 'Save' under Output and Sharing.
Step 3. Check all the items under Save Options (Recommended) and change the interval of AutoSave, for example, from every 10 minutes to every 5 minutes.
If you follow the two tips above, you will substantially decrease the risk of losing your Word documents. What if you carelessly deleted your important Word files on your Mac? No worry. There is a free method to retrieve permanently deleted Word documents provided below.
Tip 3. Recover Permanently Deleted Word Documents
Important
We don't recommend you try any Mac data recovery software on the market for recovering unsaved Word documents. Typically, the third-party software only helps when you at least had an original file located on your computer's hard disk or a connected flash drive, which is later missing due to accidental deletion, disk formatting, virus attack, partition loss, etc.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is not an exception in retrieving an unsaved Word document on Mac. Even so, it's still a last-ditch effort to take after all the other methods have failed. If there was a file saved at some point, manually or automatically, and you emptied the trash bin, the saved file will show up after you use the program to scan your hard drive.
Anyway, it's worth a try. You're strongly recommended to download its free version for the first attempt. It won't cost you a penny to search for your missing files. And since your problem is only for a few lost Word files, the 2GB recovery limit should be more than enough. The scan & recover process is very simple, we’ll show you how it works.
Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.
How To Search A Document For A Word On A Mac Free
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.
Create A Document On Mac
Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.