How to Recover an Accidentally Overwritten Word Document on Mac (for macOS Ventura)

"I thought I had copied a document to use as a template for an unrelated subject. After completing the new document, when I went back to open the original, it was gone. I looked up how to recover previous versions, but when I put my cursor on the opened document's title, no other versions appeared. Can someone help me retrieve my original document? It wasn't backed up through Time Machine or a cloud service." - A user scenario from the Apple Community.

You may have spent days or weeks working on an essay, report, or assignment. If you accidentally overwrite important content in the document on your Mac, save, and close it, all of that work could be lost. The file will be saved over, and the previous content will be irretrievable.

So, if you want to recover that unsaved Word document on Mac, there are a few ways to help you out.

How to Recover an Overwritten Word Document on a Mac

You saved a Word document to your Mac, but now you can't open it again. It's also missing from your list of recent documents, replaced by a message that says “This document has been deleted or is currently unavailable.” When this happens, you probably accidentally overwrote the file.

On a Mac, saving a document means replacing the old version with a new one, which may or may not include the data from earlier versions. Let's look at how to retrieve an earlier version.

Method 1: Restore a Word Document from a Time Machine Backup

Method 2: Recover Overwritten Word Document from Version History

Method 3: Recover Overwritten Files with Cloud Backups

Method 1: Restore a Word Document from Time Machine Backup

For Mac users who wish to retrieve their saved Word documents in an easy way, the built-in Mac Time Machine backup and recovery feature seems to be one of the options.

Time Machine is the utility that Mac users have to back up their data and restore emails, documents, apps, music, and system files.

You can access the saved-over file during a specific period by following these steps:

1. Click the “System Preferences” icon in the top-left corner of your Mac's screen. 2. Click the Time Machine icon in the System Preferences window. If you don't see it, type “Time Machine” into Spotlight to search for it. 3. Scroll through the timeline on the right side of the window to find the version of the file you want to recover. 4. When you find the file, click it. The “Restore” button will appear below the preview window. Click it to restore the overwritten Word document to your Time Machine drive.

Note: This method works in Word for Office 365 for Mac, Word 2019 for Mac, and Word 2016 for Mac.

Method 2: Restore a Saved Word Document from Version History

Users of Mac OS can freely browse, restore, copy, and delete previous versions of their files. If you accidentally overwrote a Word document, you can use the Version History feature on your Mac. As you edit a document on a Mac, the system saves a version immediately, allowing you to browse through different versions of the document. You can quickly access previous versions and save them for future use. To find an older version of a Word document on a Mac, follow these steps:

• To recover a saved Word document on a Mac, open the file and select “File” - “Revert To” - “Browse All Versions.”
• Click the checkmarks along the timeline to view different versions.
• Select the version you want to use.
• Click “Restore” to revert your work to that point in time.

Method 3: Restore Overwritten Files with Cloud Backup

While Time Machine is a great option for backup and recovery, there are other ways to protect your important data on a Mac. To recover an overwritten file, you can take advantage of one of the multiple backup options provided by cloud services.

Backing up your Mac to iCloud provides another avenue for retrieving overwritten files. Follow the steps below to restore an overwritten file from iCloud or another cloud backup.

• Connect to the cloud backup or cloud storage platform where your backups are stored.
• Use the search function of the tool to locate the file you want to restore.
• Select the file you wish to recover.
• Execute the recovery operation through the user interface of the tool.

Additional Tip: How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Documents on a Mac

You can try to recover trash on Mac to see if you can restore the Word document that was deleted by accident. If that fails, you can use a professional data recovery software as an alternative.

Deleted files usually go to the Trash, and you can still find them there even after you empty it. Here, we recommend using the practical tool – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to achieve this.

Mac Data Recovery software is specifically designed to recover deleted and lost files from Mac. It can recover lost or deleted files.

Since you have accidentally clicked “Close”, download a data recovery tool – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and use it to recover your Word file.

Download this data recovery software and follow the steps below to recover the overwritten files.

Note: You can create a backup by first clicking on "Disk Backup" on the left. The software will recover your documents from the backup image. This prevents further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step 1: Scan for lost files

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages document was lost, and then click “Search Lost Files”.

Step 2: Look for the Lost Document on Your Mac

"Data Recovery Wizard for Mac" will immediately scan the disk volume you select. The scanning results will be displayed in the left panel. Choose "Documents" to quickly filter out previously lost DOC / PDF / PPT / XLS files.

Step 3: Recover Lost/Deleted Documents

Double-click it to select the targeted file and preview them. Then, click “Recover” to retrieve all the lost files at once.

What's the difference between a saved file and an unsaved file?

There are many ways you can accidentally lose a Word document on your Mac. Usually, you might have deleted an unsaved document or saved an unwanted version, overwriting the previous one. Though the loss can be accidental, there can be several reasons that your crucial files and documents go missing.

• Editing a file while the application is crashing.
• Corruption or loss of files due to a damaged hard drive or storage device.
• Malware or virus infection.

So, what's the difference? A file that's been deleted without being saved is initially moved to the Trash, whereas a recovered unsaved Word document on Mac can be done more straightforwardly. A overwritten file cannot be found in the Trash. macOS only recognizes the newly created file as logically replacing the old one, so you won't find it there.

How to prevent a Word document from being overwritten when saving

If your Word document gets overwritten, all your work could be lost. So, you need to make sure you don't save over your document.

Here are some recommendations to ensure you don't accidentally replace important Word documents: 1. To avoid losing your work in case of an event, save your Word document frequently while editing it. 2. Make sure to save and close your MS Word document after completing your work; otherwise, it might get replaced by another document. 3. Avoid opening multiple Word documents simultaneously to prevent unintentionally overwriting an important Word file.

Conclusions

This guide has made it quite easy to recover an “accidentally saved over” Word document, which could otherwise be a daunting challenge. Be sure to keep these methods in mind for any future Word document recovery needs.

But before you attempt to fix it, you need to have a Time Machine or iCloud backup set up. However, the most effective way to recover a Word document is by using the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Recover Overwritten Document on Mac (UTF-8)

If you still can't recover a document that was overwritten on macOS, don't worry. See the following question and answer for more information.

1. How do I recover an accidentally overwritten file on my Mac?

A Word document saved on a Mac can be recovered using either a data recovery tool or by restoring from a Time Machine backup. Here's how to do it with Time Machine: 1. **Connect your Time Machine Backup Drive**: Plug in the external hard drive where your Time Machine backups are stored to your Mac. 2. **Open Time Machine**: Click on the Time Machine icon in your Dock, or go to **Apple Menu** > **System Preferences** > **Time Machine**. 3. **Start the Backup Restoration Process**: Click on the "Enter Time Machine" button, represented by a moon-shaped icon. This will take you to an interface that looks like a starry night sky with your previous backups displayed as circular thumbnails. 4. **Find the Lost Document**: Use the timeline on the right side of the screen to navigate through your past backups. You can also use the search bar at the top to look for the specific Word document by its name. 5. **Preview and Restore**: Once you locate the backup containing the missing Word file, click on it to preview the contents. If it's the correct version, click the "Restore" button located in the upper right corner of the window. This will copy the selected file back to its original location on your Mac. 6. **Confirm Restoration**: A dialog box may appear asking you to confirm the restoration. Click "Restore" again to proceed. 7. **Access Your Restored Document**: After the restoration is complete, you should find the recovered Word document in its original folder or the location where it was last saved. Remember, if you don't have a recent Time Machine backup or if you prefer not to use it, you can also try data recovery software like Disk Drill, Stellar Data Recovery, or tools Data Recovery Wizard to scan your system for deleted or lost files.

Connect your Mac to the drive containing your Time Machine backup. Click the Time Machine icon, and select Enter Time Machine. Open the folder where the file should be. Use the arrows on the right to select the version of the backup you need, and find the missing file. Once you've located the necessary Word document, click Restore.

2. Can I recover a overwritten Word document on Mac?

Yes, files that have been overwritten on a Mac can be recovered. The most effective way is by using a data recovery wizard tool. However, in certain situations, you can leverage Time Machine, iCloud, or other backup solutions to safeguard your important data.

3. Can I recover unsaved Word document on Mac?

Microsoft Office apps have AutoRecover turned on by default. Every five to ten minutes, it automatically saves any changes you've made to your Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other document files.

On a Mac, AutoRecover copies of a Word document you accidentally closed without saving are usually located in the AutoRecover folder.

4. How can I undo a “Don't Save” on a Mac?

If you "accidentally overwrite a Word document," you can press Ctrl+Z to undo the action. You can use this shortcut to restore your MS Word documents.