How to recover a damaged Word file

Microsoft Office software

08/13/20193646 1 comment

Having learned to write formulas in Word and format text so that frames and effects do not cause pain in the eyes, the user can safely do the work he loves. However, one day, as a result of an unplanned shutdown of the computer, a program crash, or other unpleasant factors, a Word file that previously opened perfectly becomes damaged, and it can no longer be opened using standard means. Let's try to figure out how to restore a Word document.

Built-in Word option

The easiest option for recovering a file is to use the “Open and Restore” system function. Its main advantage is its simplicity: a user faced with a message that a document is damaged will not need to install additional software or understand the features of Windows Explorer - everything is as easy and fast as putting emphasis in Word. The main disadvantage is the relatively small percentage of successes: in most cases, the probability of successful recovery is 50–60%.

Important: all the methods listed below only work if the user did not manage to delete the “deleted” Word file - otherwise, you will have to first restore it from the Recycle Bin (or using special software tools).

To restore and open a Word document that cannot be read as a result of damage using the program itself, you should:

Launch MS Word and select “New Document” in the start window - finding the corresponding item will be no more difficult than recovering deleted files on Android.

Go to the “File” menu located in the “ribbon” or top panel of Word.

Switch to the “Open” tab and click on the “Browse” button - this method will allow you to work with documents that are damaged using additional program functions.

Find in Explorer the document you want to restore, select it with the left mouse button and call the drop-down menu of the “Open” button - to do this, click on the triangle located next to the inscription.

In the list that appears, select “Open and Restore.”

And make sure that the Word document that could not be viewed is ready for use again.

If this recovery method does not produce results, you can resort to a related Word option:

In the already known way, go to the “File” menu, select “Browse” and expand the “All Word Documents” sublist in the “Explorer” window.

Select the item “Recover text from any file” in the new list.

And just click on the “Open” button.

Important: in the second case, by opening a damaged Word document, the user may receive an incoherent set of characters; You can really try to fix the situation by changing the encoding - or go to one of the following methods to restore the file.

Recovering a document using document recovery programs

Specialized programs help to recover lost, including unsaved, files from any device, even in the most difficult situations: after accidentally deleting a file without using the recycle bin, after files have been damaged by a virus, formatted, etc.

As practice shows, damaged images in standard .jpeg and .png formats are the most difficult to recover, but .doc and .docx files are restored successfully in most cases.

First of all, consider the general recommendations when working with data recovery programs:

Before starting the recovery process, it is prohibited to copy any new data to the disk. It is best not to perform any actions on the media at all until all necessary information has been recovered from it.
Do not format (even if the Windows system insists).
It is not recommended to restore documents to their previous storage location, since the new file may overwrite unrecovered documents.

When recovering MS Office or OpenOffice documents that you did not have time to save, we recommend using programs that support the most powerful modern data recovery algorithms, such as RS Partition Recovery or RS Office Recovery.

Install the selected program and start scanning the disk. All files available for recovery will be displayed in a separate window.

On the drive where Windows is installed (usually the C:\ drive), find the “Temp” folder - in this folder the system stores all the temporary files it creates. This is where the file that you worked with but did not have time to save should be located. You can view the contents of each file and save the necessary documents.

Automatically saved copy

One of the remarkable features of the most popular text editor, which allows, in particular, to recover an unsaved Word document, is the automatic creation of backup copies of open documents at regular intervals. Typically, these copies are deleted at the end of the session, but in the event of an unexpected failure or power outage, there is a high probability that the “draft” will remain on the hard drive.

Important: since the program creates copies solely based on time, a user who manages to restore a Word document using this method may discover that there are no edits made - however, this is better than completely losing important data.

To restore and open a Word file that was damaged due to a system error or an unscheduled computer shutdown from a backup copy, you will have to:

Open the “Computer” menu and go to drive C. Here, switch to the “View” tab.

Expand the Show or Hide sublist.

And check the two lower checkboxes: “File name extensions” and “Hidden elements”.

Now, without leaving drive C, open the “Users” directories sequentially.

The folder of the account under which the Word document was created and edited.

AppData - this subdirectory is hidden, and a user who neglects to complete the first three points will not advance further.

Roaming.

Microsoft.

And Word.

Here, a computer owner who wants to open a Word document that has been damaged will see a folder with the name of his file.

And when you open it, you get a backup copy with the ASD extension. It can be opened in MS Word by double-clicking on the title.

Or by first changing the extension to DOC/DOCX - this is where the checkbox in the “File name extensions” checkbox comes in handy.

Important: you will have to agree to change the extension; if desired, you can always return it to the original one.

How to recover lost data after an error

To recover lost files, you can use recovery programs. Recuva is considered one of the simplest and highest quality. But such a restoration has its drawbacks. The main one is the time factor. The program may take several hours to complete. This means that it is useless if the file needs to be restored urgently.

In this case, you can try another method. You need to open the archiver file and select document.xml. All edits in document.xml are carried out in any text file editor. Further instructions are given in great detail in this manual. It will be useful to users who understand what tags are and how to work with them.

Often the source of this error is the formulas that the user tries to add to the document. The main way to solve the problem is that the name of the end tag of the element must be identical to the start tag.

To prevent this from happening to documents, it is recommended to regularly backup important files. To do this, you can use both paid and free programs. Among free programs, Handy Backup is considered the undisputed leader. It is also recommended to store at least one copy on removable media (usbflash or usbhdd).

In addition, it is necessary to regularly update your computer software and check it for viruses. This is the only way to protect yourself and your documents from errors such as “The file cannot be opened due to problems with its contents.”

Draft mode

If the Word file is seriously damaged and it is impossible to open it using the previously described methods, you will have to sacrifice a number of data, in particular, attached images. The user will need:

Launch Word, go to the "File" menu, and then to the "Options" section.

In the window that opens, switch to the “Advanced” tab.

Scroll down the page and, having reached the “Show document contents” section, check the “Show placeholder picture frames” checkbox.

Here, in the “General” section, uncheck the “Automatically update links when opened” checkbox - this will allow Word to access directly the contents of the file that is damaged.

And activate the option “Allow opening the document in draft mode.”

That's all - all you have to do is click “OK” and try to open the Word file again; Usually this recovery method helps better than the first.

R-Word

Couldn't open a Word file using system methods? So, it's time to try software from independent developers. The first of the recommended programs is R-Word, a convenient, shareware software that allows you to recover even “hopeless” documents. To use it, you need:

Download (link - r-tt.com), install and run the application, and then call the File menu in the main window.

Select Add documents.

Click on the Browse button.

And indicate in the window the path to the directory containing the Word file, which cannot be opened using standard tools.

In the main window, expand the nested list that appears.

And double-click on the name of the document you want to open.

After a few seconds of waiting, the user will be able to view the contents of the Word file directly in the R-Word window.

Unfortunately, you cannot save the document in demo mode: to be able to click on the floppy disk icon, you must either purchase the application on the developer’s website or use alternative activation methods.

Tip: if after double-clicking on the title of the Word document nothing happens, you should use the Recovery button located next to the “floppy disk”.

Find source file

Even though you didn't save the document, the original doc or docx file may still remain on the system. You can find it using the following step-by-step instructions. First you should run a search on the file. If you're on Windows 10, do this using the Start panel. In Windows 2008, just press WIN+W.

In the search bar, enter the title of the document under which, most likely, it could have been saved automatically.

Windows will present you with a list of files with matching keywords in the name. If you find the document you need among them, open and view the contents of the file.

Of course, this is a simple, but not at all ideal way to get data back. The chances that the original file will remain on the system after a critical error are not great...

Recovery Toolbox for Word

Another shareware program specifically designed for recovering Word files. If a Word document is so damaged that it cannot be opened using standard means, the user can:

Download (link - word.recoverytoolbox.com), install, launch the application and click on the “Explorer” button in the main window.

Find your Word document that you need to restore, select it with the left mouse button and click on the “Open” button.

Next, select the “Analyze” option.

Confirm your desire to begin the recovery process.

And after a couple of seconds, having read the developers’ warning that some of the data in the document may be unrecoverable.

Start studying the open file. Unfortunately, this program also does not allow you to restore a document in the demo version. Ways to remove the restriction were discussed in the previous section; when it is eliminated, the user will only have to click on the “Start recovery” button.

And choose one of the saving options: in Word or a text document suitable for viewing in Notepad.

At the end of the process, you should click on the “Complete” button - or simply close Recovery Toolbox for Word and start working with the successfully recovered Word document.

OfficeRecovery Online

You can also restore a Word file online; For this purpose, there are special paid services that give excellent results. If the data is really important, and you cannot open the document using the previously described methods, you will need:

In any convenient browser, follow the link - online.officerecovery.com and click on the "Browse" button, then specify the path to the Word file.

Use the "Secure Boot and Recovery" button.

And, waiting for the data processing to complete.

Click on the “Get recovered file” link.

On the next page the user can download a free excerpt of the text contained in the document. Don’t be upset: files in a few lines are completely restored - and you don’t have to pay for access to the “full” version.

Let's sum it up

You can recover a damaged Word file using the “Open and Repair” system options or from an automatically saved copy. Other options are opening in draft mode and using third-party programs and services. In addition, a document that cannot be read after changes should be tried to be converted to an earlier version - this is done in the “Properties” menu.

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How to recover a damaged Word file in simple ways: 5 signs of a damaged file + 3 elementary methods + online file recovery service + program review + 3 auxiliary utilities.

Very often, many computer users ask the question - how to recover a damaged Word file ?

For example, you were typing some kind of report, when suddenly your computer crashed, due to which the document with your work was damaged or completely lost.

Most people don't even try to find a solution to the problem and start over. But thanks to this article, you can find out how you can recover damaged or lost data.

Online File Repair Service

To restore a Word file that is damaged and does not allow itself to be opened in normal mode, using the second most popular online service, the user will have to:

Follow the link - onlinefilerepair.com and click on the “Download file and start recovery” button located in the center of the screen.

Using the Select File button, indicate to the service the path to the Word document.

Enter your email address and one-time password in the two lower fields and click on the “Send file for recovery” button.

Click on the link as soon as it appears in the upper right to go to the results.

And view the “trial version” - it will be covered with watermarks and protected from copying, but the user will be able to view their data.

In a few seconds, a letter will be sent to the previously specified email containing a link to a payment form to receive the full version of the document - if desired, the computer owner can click on it and receive his text in its original state.

Previous versions

There is another way to recover a Word document that has been damaged due to a software or hardware failure. If the user is very lucky and has recently created a Windows restore point, in order to be able to open the text again, it is enough to:

Right-click on the damaged file and select “Properties” from the menu.

Switch to the "Previous Versions" tab.

Are there earlier versions in the window that opens? Great, then you can click on the “Restore” button.

And confirm the replacement of the damaged version of the text with the “intact” one.

After a few seconds, the Word file will be successfully restored to the same folder; Now the user can check how badly the edits have been affected - and start working with the document, not forgetting to make backup copies themselves in the future.

Why is this happening

The most common reason why a document cannot be opened is problems with headers. In this case, you will be able to completely restore the information for free.

Errors in documents occur as a result of problems with a text editor, infection of the OS with malware, or saving a document in an earlier version of Word. Check how Word works with other data.

Let's take a closer look at whether it is possible to restore a non-working Word document.