How to Recover an Unsaved Document in Office

Applies to: Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint — desktop)
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-03-09

Summary

If an Office application closes unexpectedly or you forget to save, you may be able to recover your work using AutoRecover or temporary files. This article explains multiple recovery methods for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft 365 desktop apps (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).
• AutoRecover must not have been manually disabled (it is enabled by default).

Instructions

1. Recover from the Document Recovery Pane

Office automatically offers recovered files after a crash.

1. Re-open the Office application (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).
2. If a recovered file is available, a Document Recovery pane appears on the left side.
3. Review the listed versions. Each entry shows a timestamp.
4. Click the version you want to restore, then click Save As to save it to a permanent location.
5. After saving, close the Document Recovery pane.

2. Recover an Unsaved File Manually

Find files you worked on but never saved.

Word:

1. Open Word and click File > Open > Recent.
2. Scroll to the bottom and click Recover Unsaved Documents.
3. A file browser opens to the temporary drafts folder. Select your file and click Open.
4. Click Save As immediately to save to a permanent location.

Excel:

1. Open Excel and click File > Open > Recent.
2. Click Recover Unsaved Workbooks at the bottom.
3. Select the file and click Open, then Save As.

PowerPoint:

1. Open PowerPoint and click File > Open > Recent.
2. Click Recover Unsaved Presentations.
3. Select and save the file.

3. Browse Temporary Files Directly

If the recovery options above do not show your file, check the temp folder manually.

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to: C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles
2. Look for files with recent timestamps. Unsaved files typically have a .asd (Word), .xlsx (Excel), or .pptx (PowerPoint) extension.
3. Open the file in the appropriate application and Save As to a permanent location.

4. Enable AutoSave for Future Protection

Prevent data loss by enabling AutoSave for files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.

1. Save your document to OneDrive or SharePoint (click File > Save As > OneDrive).
2. Once saved to the cloud, the AutoSave toggle appears in the top-left corner of the title bar.
3. Toggle AutoSave to On. Changes are saved automatically every few seconds.

Tip: AutoSave only works for files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint. Files saved only to your local drive use AutoRecover instead, which saves every 10 minutes by default.

5. Adjust AutoRecover Settings

Change how frequently AutoRecover saves backup copies.

1. Open the Office application and go to File > Options > Save.
2. Verify Save AutoRecover information every [X] minutes is checked.
3. Set the interval (default is 10 minutes; lower values save more frequently but may briefly slow performance).
4. Click OK.

Troubleshooting

DANGER

Recovery is not guaranteed. AutoRecover files are temporary and may be deleted when you close the application normally. Always save your work frequently, and use AutoSave with OneDrive for the best protection.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
No Document Recovery pane on relaunch	AutoRecover was disabled	Go to File > Options > Save and enable Save AutoRecover information.
Recover Unsaved Documents button missing	No unsaved drafts available	The temp folder may be empty. Check C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles manually.
Recovered file is incomplete	AutoRecover interval too long	Reduce the AutoRecover interval in File > Options > Save (e.g., from 10 to 5 minutes).

Related Articles

• How to Restore a Previous Version of a File in OneDrive
• How to Co-Author Documents in Real Time

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