3 Ways to Recover Permanently Deleted Word Document (Free)

If you often write, edit, or handle Word documents, you probably have first-hand experience with how painful, and how easy it can be to lose one.

Let’s say you’re organizing your working folder and deleting old versions of the document you’ve spent the last few days working on using the Shift + Delete keyboard shortcut, which skips the Recycle Bin and immediately removes files from your system.

guide how to retrieve deleted word document

Now, imagine you accidentally selecting the most recent version of the document instead of an older copy you no longer need and hitting Shift + Delete. Before you even realize what’s just happened, the file is gone, and there’s no obvious way how to recover it.

A scenario like this can be downright nightmarish depending on how important the deleted document was to you. The good news is that there are several ways how to recover a deleted Word document even if you’ve used the Shift + Delete shortcut, and one of them is so simple that it will take you just a few minutes to learn and use.

Method 1: Locate Word Backup Files

Depending on if you have the Always create backup copy selected, Word will automatically create backup files of your documents. These backup files have the .wbk file name extension, and you can open them just like regular Word documents.

The only problem is that the .wbk backup files can be someone hard to find.

To Locate Word Backup Files:

Step 1: Open Word.
Step 2: Click File and select Options.
Step 3: Select Save from the menu on the left.
Step 4: Find a field called “AutoRecover File Location” and note the location of the autosave directory.
Step 5: Head to the autosave directory and open the .wbk backup files just like you would regular Word documents.

Method 2: Restore Deleted Word Documents in OneDrive

how to retrieve deleted word document For some time now, Word can save documents to the cloud, allowing you to access your files from anywhere and easily collaborate with others. To take advantage of this feature, you need to be a user of OneDrive, which is Microsoft’s file hosting service and synchronization service.

You will then get the option to save files to your OneDrive account instead of saving them locally on your computer. When a file is stored on OneDrive, you can enable the AutoSave feature by clicking on a button located in the top-left corner of the main Word window to save your documents automatically, every few seconds, as you work.

Because OneDrive has its own Recycle Bin, it can help you recover documents that were accidentally deleted using the Shift + Delete shortcut.

To Restore Deleted Word Documents in OneDrive:

Step 1: Visit OneDrive and sign in.
Step 2: Select Recycle bin in the navigation panel.
Step 3: Select the Word document you want to recover and click the Restore button.

Method 3: Data recovery software for Windows

Disk Drill is a data recovery tool that delivers professional results even though it was developed with the average user in mind.

Thanks to Disk Drill, you can avoid spending hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars on professional data recovery services while achieving the same results—just from the comfort of your own home and possibly even for free because Disk Drill lets you recover up to 500 MB of data without paying, which is more than enough for hundreds of Word documents.

To Recover Deleted Word Documents on Windows:

Step 1: Download Disk Drill from its website.

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Step 2: Open Disk Drill.
Step 3: Click the Search for lost data button next to your storage device.
Step 4: Select Word documents for recovery.
Step 5: Begin the recovery process by clicking the Recover button one last time.

The second you launch Disk Drill, you notice that it certainly doesn’t look like your average data recovery tool. For starters, Disk Drill has a beautiful user interface that makes it effortless even for complete novices to figure out how to recover deleted Word documents with it. In fact, the whole recovery process with Disk Drill boils down to a couple of simple steps, which we describe in great detail below.

When you instruct Disk Drill to begin the recovery process, its advanced data recovery algorithms start analyzing the content of your hard drive and looking for even the tiniest bits and pieces of files, which it can then piece together to recover the original file as if it was never deleted in the first place.

✔ All major storage devices are supported, so it doesn’t mean if you’re reading this article because you want to learn how to retrieve deleted Word documents from a traditional hard drive or a portable USB flash drive—Disk Drill works equally well with all kinds of storage devices.

FAQ

Q: How do I recover a deleted Word document that I didn’t save?

A: You can often find unsaved Word documents in the Temp folder, which is typically stored in C:\Users\Your_username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Word. Just remember to first enable the show hidden files option in Windows Explorer otherwise you won’t be able to see it.

Q: How to recover lost Word documents from AutoRecover files?

A: Click the File tab, click the Manage Document button, and choose the Recover Unsaved Documents option from the drop-down list. A dialog box will open and list all unsaved documents. Simply select the one you would like to recover and wait a short while for Word to open it.

Q: How to find lost files after the upgrade to Windows 10?

A: Many people report file loss after upgrading to the latest version of Windows 10 because they’re signed in using a temporary account. To verify if that’s really the case, you can open Settings, click on Accounts, choose Sync your settings, and look for a message that says: You are logged on with a temporary profile. Roaming options are currently unavailable. All you need to do to get your files back is sign in with your regular account.

Q:Is it possible to recover deleted Word document on Mac?

A: Yes, it is possible. Here you can find a complete guide on how to recover deleted Word document on macOS.

Q: How to filter results in Disk Drill to show only Word documents?

A: If you’re reading this article because you want to know how to recover lost Word documents and don’t care about any other files, you can filter the results to display documents only by checking the Document filter option located on the left side, which makes it easier to select only the files you want to recover.

Q: How to specify a recovery directory in Disk Drill?

A: If you want to recover the deleted files to a specific folder, don’t forget to specify it before you click the Recovery button. To do that, locate the “Recover to” field, click on it, and select the desired recovery directory.

How to Recover Deleted or Unsaved Word Document for Free