How to Find AutoRecovery Files on a Mac and Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac

You can automatically create backups of your active documents in Microsoft Word for Mac. If the app crashes or your computer shuts down unexpectedly, the AutoRecover Word Mac option will try to load the latest version of the document.

However, AutoRecovery is no substitute for saving your Word documents on the Mac frequently – the only surefire way to keep valid working copies. So, where to find the AutoRecover Word folder on Mac and how to use them right if your saved or unsaved Word files go missing on your Mac? Read on to get the answers.

Where are AutoRecovery files on a Mac?

Word saves AutoRecover files as "AutoRecover save of filename", where filename is the name of the document you were working on. By default, AutoRecover files are located in the following places:

As for Office Word 2011:

"/Users/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office2011/AutoRecover"

For Office Word 2016, 2019, 2021, and Office 365:

/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

(This image displays the location of the AutoRecovery folder on a Mac.)

You can also search for the file you need on your Mac. Here's how to do it two different ways:

1. Search for Auto-Recovered Word Files

Open Word, and choose File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents. If you don't find the file there, try manually locating the AutoRecover files:

Step 1. Click Start, type asd in the search box, and press Enter.

< strong > Step 2: If you find any files with the .asd extension, open Word and click on "File," then "Open," and then "Browse."

Step 3: In the “File name” list on the right, choose “All Files.”

Step 4: Right-click the backup file you found and select “Open” from the context menu.

2. Search the temporary word file

Your Mac also has a folder for temporary files, but it can be difficult to find.

You can use the Terminal (if you're looking for how to open Terminal on a Mac, follow this link) to locate the Temp folder.

Step 1: In the terminal window, type open $TMPDIR

Step 2: Press the "Enter" key.

< strong > Step 3 Inside the "TMP" folder, there should be a folder called "Temporary Items." Your lost Word document might be in here.

How to Recover an Unsaved Word Document on a Mac

Microsoft Word is gaining more popularity on Mac computers because it offers some beneficial tools for specific collaboration scenarios compared to recovering Pages documents. Conversely, Word on Mac has an autosave feature that enables us to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac. On one hand, Microsoft Word provides the standard DOC or DOCX file formats that are compatible with almost all operating system platforms.

1. Solution 1: Recover Unsaved Word Document with AutoRecover
2. Solution 2: Recover Unsaved Word File without AutoRecover
3. Solution 3: Recover Unsaved Word Document from TMP Folder on Mac

The above are 3 possible ways to recover unsaved Word documents based on the features of Microsoft Word for Mac. You can also use these methods to recover unsaved Excel files on Mac.

Solution 1: Recover unsaved Word file using Auto-Recover feature

When an application or system crashes, the AutoRecover feature, available in many Office programs, attempts to automatically recover your files. It does this by periodically saving a backup copy of your file in the background. AutoRecover saves a recovery file every 10 minutes by default.

In some cases, you can control how often these auto-recovery files are saved. For example, if you set it to save every five minutes instead of every ten or fifteen minutes, you might be able to recover more data in the event of an unexpected shutdown (such as one caused by a power failure).

To recover an unsaved Word document on a Mac, you can:

Step 1. Open Finder, and look for the unsaved files in the AutoRecover folder mentioned above.

Step 2: Enter the file name in Finder, then click Go to Folder to locate it.

Step 3: Click "Save As" from the File menu. Type in a new name for the file in the "Name" field, choose a location to save it to, and click "Save."

Solution 2: Recover unsaved Word file with recovery software

Typically, the program will restore your work the next time you open it after an unexpected shutdown or power failure. It detects the presence of the AutoRecover file and opens it. However, Word's AutoRecover feature doesn't always save everything you might want to recover.

A reliable Mac Data Recovery software – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac has recently updated its feature to recover unsaved documents, making it easier and faster to retrieve unsaved Word/Excel/PPT files from your Mac.

Moreover, you can use AutoRecovery Word and data recovery tools to retrieve unsaved Word documents. However, you cannot use AutoRecovery to restore permanently deleted files due to hard drive formatting, file system crash, or damage to your Mac. In such cases, a data recovery tool is necessary.

The main features of Data Recovery Wizard for Mac are:

Efficiently recover deleted Word, PPT, Excel, and image files. Helps restore Office documents, emails, photos, and other types of data. Supports file recovery in cases like deletion, formatting, HDD/SSD damage, virus attacks, etc.

Download this data recovery software, and follow the steps below to retrieve your unsaved Word document.

Note: You can click Disk Backup on the left to create a backup first. You can then restore data from the backup image when the disk is damaged or unsaved documents on the disk are accidentally deleted or lost.

Step 1: Select a disk

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, hover the mouse over the device where you lost your unsaved file, and click Search for Lost Files.

Step 2: Select the unsaved document.

When the scan is done, click “Kind,” then expand “Unsaved Documents.” Click on the specific unsaved file type that you lost – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages, or Numbers.

Step 3: Preview and recover the unsaved files

Click on it to preview the unsaved file, select the correct version, and then click “Recover” to save the file to another secure location on your Mac.

Solution 3: Recover unsaved Mac Word document from the TMP folder

Word for Mac stores copies of unsaved Word documents in a “Temp” folder. Your Mac also uses this area to temporarily store files. It can be difficult for many Mac users to locate, however.

Here are the steps to retrieve a Word document saved in the Mac's temporary folder:

Step 1: Click on "Applications" -> "Utilities" and then double-click on "Terminal."

2. Type open $TMPDIR in Terminal to open the TMP folder. This is where temporary files are stored.

Step 3: Inside the "TMP" folder, locate and access the "TemporaryItems" folder. Right-click on the unsaved Word file and select "Open with -> Microsoft Word."

Step 4: Save the Word document in a different location by selecting “File” – “Save As.”

That's how you can recover unsaved Word documents on Mac, with or without AutoRecover. If you're using Windows, you can find an online guide here.

How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Windows 10

How to recover unsaved Word documents on Windows? This page shows 5 methods to help you restore unsaved Word files from AutoRecover, temporary files, and document recovery.

What should I do if Word for Mac AutoRecover isn't working?

If you don't have AutoRecover turned on for Word on your Mac, or the AutoRecover feature isn't working as expected, you can try using a professional data recovery app for Mac or launch Terminal on your Mac to recover an unsaved Word document.

Also, if you're in the habit of regularly backing up your information to an online storage service, retrieving a lost or deleted Word document is much simpler. Though there are many online storage options like Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and the Todo Backup For Mac tool, recovering a Word file from these backups is a straightforward and consistent process.

Here's how it works with iCloud, for example:

Step 1: Access the iCloud website or use the application to log into your iCloud account.

Step 2. To move the Word document to your Mac, locate the file, click it, and then select the “Download” icon.

Step 3. If you can't find the deleted Word document, go to Settings > Advanced > Recover Unsaved Documents, select the Word file you want to recover, and then click Recover File.

Last Words

The easiest way to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac is by using the Mac Word AutoRecover feature. However, if it doesn't work for you, the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool can quickly locate and restore deleted, lost, or unsaved documents.

"Frequently Asked Questions about Recovery Word for Mac"

If you're having issues with AutoRecover on your Mac, read through the following four common questions and answers for more help.

**1. How to recover unsaved Word documents on a Mac?**

You can use Word Recovery software to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac.

Reliable Mac Data Recovery software – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac has recently updated the feature to recover unsaved documents, allowing you to recover unsaved Word files on Mac with just a few clicks.

2. Where are AutoRecovery files stored on a Mac?

• Excel Files: /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
• PowerPoint Files: /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
• Word Files: /Users/username/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

3. Can I recover unsaved Word document on Mac?

AutoRecover is enabled by default in Microsoft Office programs, and saves changes to your Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other documents every 5 to 10 minutes.

On your Mac, the AutoRecovery folder is typically where you'd find the automatically saved copies of any unsaved Word documents that were unexpectedly closed.

How to use AutoRecover to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac?

AutoRecover is a feature in the Microsoft Word suite that allows you to automatically save your files while working on (editing or modifying) a Word document. By default, Microsoft Word saves your document every 10 minutes. We'll need to confirm that this feature is turned on.