Documents keep disappearing

Question

I used to save documents to my PC and my PC only. I never had any problems.

At Microsoft's suggestion, I set my computer up to save my work onto OneDrive.

Now, I try to save things, and do all that I think is necessary to save them, and I often come back to find that my most recent edits are not saved.

For example, one very important document says it has not been modified since 1/11/22 when I have done considerable work on it since then.

Does anyone know how to

1. Retrieve the unsaved data
2. Prevent this from happening again
3. Remove my computer from the cloud so I can go back to reliably saving my work?

Answer 1

Hello Eric,

Sorry for the trouble caused at your end.

Generally, if the files are saved in the cloud location like OneDrive/SharePoint and if the changes are not showing, it seems the changes are not saved to the cloud.

First, check whether there is any version history created during the time where the changes made were not present. Reference: View previous versions of Office files (microsoft.com)

If there is no version created, it seems the changes you made are not synced to the OneDrive for the web and I am afraid there are fewer chances to restore the unsaved document. Despite it, you can check the Unsaved Document Location in the Word app and check whether there is a copy of it. Open the Word app> Open> Recover Unsaved Documents.

In addition, to prevent this happen, even though the files in the cloud location will be saved automatically via the AutoSave feature, to make sure the content is saved, please click on the Save button on the application before you close the document or file.

Appreciate your understanding and patience. Stay safe!!

Best Regards,

Chitrahaas