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Word document not saving. Showing up blank.

Anonymous
2018-05-16T15:33:43+00:00

I'm working through a 100+ page document and when I hit save, it says "Word is saving" but it doesn't save.  When I open the file it is empty.  How can I retrieve my previous document (that is now showing up as blank) and what should I do to prevent this from happening again?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-05-19T10:39:43+00:00

    Hi Reiley,

    To open your file, I'd like to suggest you open it via Word online. You can sign in your Office 365 account in Office 365 portal to do that. If you can open this file, please copy all contents then paste it into a new file.

    If you can't open it, please restore the blank Word document to a previous version to see the outcome. You can follow the steps below to do that:

    1. Right-click the blank Word document, choose to Restore previous versions. 
    2. In the list of previous recovery points, choose the latest one.
    3. Click Restore button to recover it back. 

    Please have a try and share with me your result.

    Thanks,

    Neo

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-17T13:40:30+00:00

    Hi Neo,

    Thanks for your help. I've tried to save the same word document (100+ pages) to the hard drive under a different name and was unable to save it properly (it still showed up blank).

    I'm not sure where to find the following information: OS(Win+R>type CMD>OK).

    My Product information is:

    Before this issue happened I tried to retrieve older versions of the document from my History, checked to make sure the text wasn't "hidden", and I also tried "Open and Repair" which didn't work.

    Thanks

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-17T05:46:44+00:00

    Hi Reiley,

    To check if this issue is related to Word or your file, please create a new file to see if you can edit and save it normally. Meanwhile, I'd like to suggest you store your files in OneDrive to make a backup of it.

    Besides, please also share with me more info as below:

    1. The detailed version number of your OS(Win+R>type CMD>OK) and Office(File>Account>Product Information).
    2. What have you changed before this issue happens?

    Thanks,

    Neo

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-05-16T15:56:01+00:00

    I saved it to the hard drive as well as Dropbox. Both opened as blank documents.

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  5. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-05-16T15:51:30+00:00

    Are you saving to the hard drive or OneDrive?

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