Information in file was accidentally deleted. How can i retrieve it?

Hi @Catherine Jorgenson,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.  

Thank you for reaching out regarding the accidental deletion of your file. I understand how important this document is to your work and am here to assist you.

Here are my recommendations you can try to recover your file:

If the file is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint

You can restore a previous version to recover the content:

Option A – From Word

• Open the document in Word.
• Go to File > Info > Version History (or Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents if the file was closed without saving).
• Select the version from before the deletion and click Restore.

Option B – From OneDrive/SharePoint on the web

• Open OneDrive or the SharePoint library in your browser.
• Right-click the file → Version History → choose the older version → Restore (or Download if you want to keep both versions).

Note: If the file itself was deleted, check the OneDrive Recycle Bin and click Restore. Items are typically retained for 30–93 days depending on your account type.

For your reference:

• Recover an earlier version of a Word file
• Restore deleted files or folders in OneDrive

If the file is stored locally and changes were saved after deletion

Try restoring from Windows Previous Versions or File History (if enabled):

• Open File Explorer, right-click the folder where the file was stored.
• Select Properties > Previous Versions and choose a restore point.

If the file was deleted locally

• Check the Windows Recycle Bin and restore it to the original folder.

Contact IT admin  

• If the problem persists, I recommend contacting your IT administrator for further assistance. If needed, they can submit a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 admin center for further investigation.  

We appreciate your understanding regarding the scope of support available through this forum. As moderators, our role is to provide general guidance and assist with common troubleshooting steps. While we do not have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend-related issues but we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you. 

I look forward to your thoughts on this. 

Best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and prosperous New Year. 

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To retrieve a deleted file in Microsoft Word, you can follow these steps:

1. Check the Recycle Bin: If you deleted the document without emptying the Recycle Bin, you might be able to restore it. Double-click the Recycle Bin on your Desktop and look for your deleted Word document.
2. Search for Backup Files: If you had the "Always create backup copy" option enabled in Word, you may find a backup file with a ".wbk" extension. To check if this option is on, go to File > Options > Advanced, scroll down to the Save section, and ensure the option is selected. You can search for backup files in the following locations:
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles Replace <UserName> with your actual username.
3. Look for AutoRecover Files: Open Word and go to File > Open > Browse. In the files of type dropdown, select All Files and look for any AutoRecover files that may have been saved automatically.
4. Search for Unsaved Documents: If Word crashed or closed unexpectedly, you might find unsaved documents by going to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.

By following these steps, you should be able to recover your deleted file if it is still available in one of these locations.

References:

• How to recover unsaved Word documents