How to Recover an Earlier Version of a Word Document on a Mac

How to Recover an Earlier Version of a Word Document on Mac

How to restore previous versions of files on Mac? If you accidentally replaced a file, or can't see the previous version of a saved document on your Mac, don't worry. On this page, you'll find 5 effective ways to immediately restore previous versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, or Keynote on your Mac.

For your reference:

• Besides the Mac Data Recovery Software, the other four methods are sourced from Apple and Microsoft support teams.
• To avoid unnecessary loss, save and back up any files you're currently working on.
• For the simplest and most effective way to restore a previous version of a lost or overwritten document on your Mac, refer to Method 2.

Method 1: Restore an Earlier Version of the Word Document with “File History” (Mac)

When you accidentally overwrite a file and don't have a Time Machine backup, you might first try to use the Mac's File History feature.

Here are the steps (source: support.apple.com): 1. On your Mac, open "System Preferences." 2. Click "Software Update" to check for available updates. 3. If a macOS update is available, click "Update Now." 4. Enter your administrator password to allow installation. 5. The system will download and install the update, which may take some time. 6. After completion, you might be prompted to restart your Mac to finish the installation. 7. Restart your Mac and open "Software Update" again to ensure all updates have been applied. If you need to restore to a specific version, follow these additional steps: 8. Download the recovery image for the macOS version you want to restore to. 9. Connect your Mac to power and ensure your data is backed up. 10. Restart your Mac and hold down the Command-R keys while it starts up to enter Recovery Mode. 11. From the Recovery tools, choose "Disk Utility," then select your startup disk to verify or repair. 12. Exit "Disk Utility" and select "Reinstall macOS." 13. Follow the on-screen instructions and choose the downloaded recovery image to install. 14. Once the installation is complete, your Mac will automatically start up with the restored macOS version.

On your Mac, open the document (a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or iWork Pages or Keynote document).

Step 2: Click the Apple menu and select File > Restore From > Browse All Versions.

Step 3: Click the check marks on the timeline to view different versions of the missing document.

Step 4. Choose the version you want, review its contents, and click Restore.

Step 5: Browse or navigate to the new location on your Mac where you want to save the recovered document file.

Then you can review and retrieve earlier versions of documents that you replaced, didn't save, or overwrote.

Method 2: Recover an Earlier Version of a Word Document on Mac with a File Recovery Program

Even if you don't see the history of your lost file on Mac, no worries. Here, a third-party and reliable Mac Data Recovery Wizard tool can easily find the previous versions of your lost files with its “Recover Unsaved Documents” feature. See what the software can do for you:

Now let's start restoring a previous version of a document on the Mac:

Note: You can click “Disk Backup” on the left to create one first. This way, you can restore your 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

Run the “Data Recovery Wizard for Mac” tool, hover the mouse over the device where the unsaved file was lost, and click “Find Lost Files.”

Step 2: Select the unsaved document.

When the scan is finished, click “Type,” then expand “Unsaved Documents.” Click on the specific file type that you want to recover – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages, or Numbers.

Step 3: Preview and recover the unsaved files

Double-click to preview an unsaved file, choose the correct version, and then click “Recover” to save the file to another secure location on your Mac.

Mac Data Recovery Software can help you find the previous version of your Word document. Don't forget to share this helpful tool with your friends.

Method 3: Use AutoRecover to Open a Previous Version of the Document (Mac)

AutoRecovery is a local folder on Mac where the default Auto Save feature keeps previous versions of Office for Mac (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), iWork (Keynote, Pages, Numbers), and TextEdit files.

So, if you've lost a file, failed to save a document, or just want to restore an earlier version of a file, you can follow these steps to recover a file on your Mac:

Step 1: Click on “Finder,” then choose “Go to Folder.”

Step 2: Enter the correct path, and then click "Go" to locate the missing document in the AutoRecovery folder:

• Word: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
• Excel: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
• PowerPoint: ~/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
• Numbers: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Numbers/Data/Library/AutoSave Information
• Pages: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Pages/Data/Library/AutoSave Information
• Keynote: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Keynote/Data/Library/Autosave Information
These paths lead to the respective AutoRecovery or AutoSave folders for each application on a Mac.

Step 3: Browse to find the previous version of the file, and open it in its associated app to review its contents.

Step 4. Once you've proofread your document, click “File” and select “Save,” then save the file in a secure location on your Mac.

Method 4: Restore an Earlier Version of the Word Document from the TemporaryItems Folder

Similar to the AutoSave feature, the TemporaryItems folder is a local location on a Mac where files that are currently being edited and cached are stored. If you closed a file without saving or lost a file, you might try looking for it inside the TemporaryItems folder.

Please act promptly, as the system will only store cached files for a limited time. Here are the steps you can try:

Step 1: In Finder, go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 2: Type open $TMPDIR in Terminal and press “Return.”

Enter the command in the Terminal to find the “TemporaryItems” folder:

Step 3: Find and open the TemporaryItems folder.

Open the TemporaryItems folder.

Step 4. Locate files with the .tmp extension, and change their extensions to .doc, .docx, .xls, or whatever format your lost files had.

Step five: Open the file in the appropriate application (Word or Excel, say) and check its contents.

Method 5: Restore an Older Version of a Word Document using Time Machine (Mac) If you had previously enabled Time Machine backups on your Mac, you can easily recover an older version of your Word document. Here's how: 1. Ensure that your Time Machine backup drive is connected to your Mac. 2. Open Finder, then select "Go" from the menu bar and click "Time Machine." 3. In the Time Machine interface, you'll see a timeline displaying past backups. 4. Locate the folder containing your Word document, such as "Documents" or "Desktop." 5. Scroll through the timeline to find the old version of the Word document you want to restore. 6. Preview the document to ensure it's the version you need, then click the "Restore" button in the top-right corner. 7. Time Machine will begin restoring the selected older version of the Word document to your Mac. Please note that the restored file will replace the current version, so make sure you really want to restore this specific version rather than overwrite existing content.

If you've backed up your Mac's files with the Time Machine app, congratulations: you'll always be able to get your files back when disaster strikes.

You can also use Time Machine to restore a previous version of a document on your Mac. Here's how:

Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your Mac.

Step 2: Click the Apple menu and choose Go > Applications.

Step 3: Find and open Time Machine.

Step 4: Scroll through the timeline until you find the date and time of the backup you want.

Step 5: Double-click on a specific file or folder to check if that's the earlier version you want to restore.

Step 6. Choose the item you want to restore, and click “Restore” to revert the file to an earlier version.

Note that the selected files will be restored to their original locations on your Mac. You can then view and use the recovered files again.

Conclusions

No need to worry about overwritten or unsaved files – you can recover them from a previous version! On this page, we've gathered 5 practical methods to help you restore saved, replaced, or even unsaved documents on your Mac.

For the simplest and effective method, Mac File Recovery software is the one you can trust.

Whether you accidentally replaced or overwrote a Word document, closed an Excel spreadsheet without saving it, or just want to open an older version of a file on your Mac, these methods will help you recover them from previous versions. Let's get started and reclaim your lost files.

Frequently Asked Questions on Restoring Previous Versions of Word Documents on Mac

You've learned how to restore previous versions of a Word document on your Mac. It's time for more help. Check out the frequently asked questions below.

How can I recover an earlier version of a Word document?

The steps to view previous versions of a document are:

1. Open the latest version of the document you want to restore. 2. From the menu bar, choose File > Browse Version History. 3. On the Office website, go to File > Info > Previous Versions. 4. Select the previous version you want to restore.

2. Why can't I browse the version history of a Word document?

You can't view the version history of a Word document because:

• You accidentally deleted the document and its backups.
• You forgot where you saved the document.
• Your Mac got infected by a virus, resulting in data loss.
• Microsoft Word or your Mac crashed unexpectedly before you saved the document.

3. Can I revert a Mac note to a previous version?

When Notes go missing on a Mac, you can try the following steps to get them back.

1. Navigate to the sidebar > View > Show Folders. 2. Locate the "Recently Deleted" folder. 3. Check the deleted notes and restore them to a specific folder.

4. Does Word save previous versions?

If the AutoRecover option is turned on, Word saves versions of your file as you work on it. If you turned off AutoSave, these versions won't be available for recovery.