Enabling and using AutoRecover
To turn on the AutoRecover feature:
- In Word 2010, from the
File
menu, select Options
. Then, from the toolbar on the left, click Save
to configure AutoRecover options. Proceed to step 3 below.
In Word 2007, from the Office Button menu, select Word Options
. Then, from the toolbar on the left, click Save
to configure AutoRecover options.
In Word 2003, from the Tools
menu, select Options...
.
In Mac OS X versions of Word, from the Word
menu, select Preferences...
.
- In the window that opens, click the
Save
tab, icon, or list item.
- If it is unchecked, check
Save AutoRecover info every:
, and type a value next to "minutes". For example, to save your work every five minutes, type 5
.
- Click
OK
to make the change.
If a system or program crash causes your computer to shut down, reboot and open Word normally. Word should recognize that there is an AutoRecovered file that is newer than the last saved version of your document. It will prompt you to open and save the AutoRecovered file.
If the AutoRecover function does not prompt you to open the backup file, you may still be able to recover your work. Search your hard drive for a file called AutoRecovery
or *.asd
.
Finding AutoRecovered files in Windows
Word for Windows saves AutoRecovered files with the name AutoRecovery Save of filename.asd
, where filename
is the name of the document on which you were working:
- In Windows 7 and Vista, the file is stored in the
\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
folder (username
will be replaced by the author's username).
- In Windows XP, the file is stored in the
\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Word
folder (username
will be replaced by the author's username).
When you find the file, double-click to open it. Alternatively, from Word's File
menu, choose Open...
and browse to the location of the file.
Finding AutoRecovered files in Mac OS X
Word for Mac OS X saves the AutoRecovered file as AutoRecover save of filename
, where filename
is the name of the document on which you were working. The default AutoRecover location is:
/Users/username/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office version AutoRecovery/Autorecovery save of filename
Replace username
with the short name of your account in Mac OS X, Office version
with the version of Office you have, and filename
with the name of the document. If it's not there, try searching for it with Spotlight, which you can access from the magnifying glass icon in the top right of the Finder menu bar. Once you find the file, drag it to the Desktop. Double-click it, or, from Word's File
menu, choose Open...
to browse to and open the file.
Changing the default AutoRecover folder
To change the folder in which AutoRecovered files are stored:
Word 2010 and 2007
- In Word 2010, from the
File
menu, choose Options
.
In Word 2007, from the Office Button menu, select Word Options
.
- From the toolbar on the left, click
Save
, which will present you with options to customize how documents are saved.
- Next to
AutoRecover file location:
, click Browse
to choose the folder where you want Word to save your AutoRecovered files.
- Click
OK
.
Other versions of Word
- In Word 2003, from the
Tools
menu, select Options...
. In Mac OS X versions of Word, from the Word
menu, select Preferences...
.
- In the window that opens, click
File Locations
.
- Under "File types", choose
AutoRecover files
and click Modify...
.
- Choose the folder where you want Word to save your AutoRecovered files. Click
OK
or Choose
.
- Click
Close
or OK
.