Problem with password protected document

Question

Problem with password protected document

Anonymous

I have a 50-page Word document which is an ongoing compilation of topics I discuss with my therapist. I am the only one in my household who has access to it, and it is password protected. But because it is password protected, it will not AutoSave in OneDrive. Therefore, I am careful to periodically save by selecting the 'Save' icon, and then again before I close it. All is okay until the next time I open it and realize that everything I typed and saved previously is not there! Now today, I did the same thing, added to it, tried to save it and it would not save at all. I had to give it a new name to save it. All looked fine but when I reopened it, my recent additions were not there! It's like the document has some embedded glitches now and is not saving, even though it is. My document is saved like this: OneDrive - Personal > SJ-CUSTOM FOLDERS > MISC INFO > filename.

I don't understand what is going on with it. I was tempted to select all the text, then copy/paste into a new blank document, but I'm not sure that would solve the issues. What am I doing wrong? I have been compiling this document for at least two years, and it started giving me problems a few months ago. Please help!

One more thing to mention is that I have done several searches in my OneDrive and C: drive but cannot find any other saved versions with my latest updates.

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Answer 1

Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K MVP Volunteer Moderator

For future reference, it would be better to create a folder that is not within the OneDrive folder and save your document directly to your local hard drive. You can tell Word to use the local drive as the default, even for documents that are synced to OneDrive.

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Answer 2

Hi Sandy, does sound a strange situation. You could try repairing Office as a first option: Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support

Could you copy the word document to This PC\C:\Users\UserName so that the document is on C Drive and not one OneDrive. See if this makes any difference.

Can you open another document>File>Open>Browse>Find your document in File Explorer>Click on it>Bottom Right>Open and Repair:

And yes I would try copying content to a new document to see if this makes any difference. (at least you will have a copy)

Answer 3

Hello, SandyJarvis15172

Thanks for raising your concerns in Microsoft Community.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost important data. Important data is very important to us, and it's understandable that this situation is frustrating and worrying, especially when there is potential data loss. I understand that you are looking for help with data recovery. While I can suggest some possible solutions, please be aware that data support is limited in scope in the Microsoft Community. We follow specific processes for these issues. Rest assured that no one in the community can access your personal account or OneDrive data, which remains securely encrypted in cloud data centers.

Although not all lost data can be recovered, here are some suggestions and more feasible solutions for your problem:

1-> Verify Files Online:–Log in to your OneDrive account via a web browser (www.onedrive.com) to check if the missing files or recent changes appear there. Sometimes changes are only visible in the cloud even if they do not appear on a local device.

2-> Check the Recycle Bin and Version History:

In OneDrive online, review the Recycle Bin for any files that might have been deleted unintentionally.
Also check the version history of individual files (available via the file’s context menu) to see if previous versions are available that contain your lost work.

3-> Use the “Restore your OneDrive”Feature (If Available)

–If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you may use the “Restore your OneDrive”option to revert the state of your files to a previous date (up to 30 days in the past). This can help recover changes that were overwritten by sync conflicts.

More details found here, please click this linkto get your guidance.

Please understand and accept my apology because as a community moderator, we are not responsible for the development and design of Microsoft products and have limited resources for product development. In order to help you send your feedback and requirements to the relevant product development team, we will redirect you to the right path. Please click "Email Onedrive support" https://onedrive.live.com/?action=feedback and consult the OneDrive dedicated department via email. Or shake the OneDrive app on your phone to contact the OneDrive support team.

Thanks for understanding and stay safe!

Best Regards,

Yujun.F-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist