URGENT: Microsoft Word found unreadable content in (File Name).

Question

Hi All,

I am very stressed about an issue I am facing on Microsoft Word. I have a submission in the next couple of minutes & my Microsoft Word file will not open now. It seemed to be working as expected earlier. Please help.

I am genuinely very stressed.

Please help. I don't know why the content is not readable anymore. Is there any helpline?

Thanks,

AK

Answer 1

Attach a copy of the file to a message that you post back here and I will try and recover your document for you.

Answer 2

Dear @Abhishek Kemkar,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

This confirms the file is either corrupted or Word cannot read it properly. Here’s some suggestions you can do:

1. Use “Open and Repair”
   • In Word: File > Open > Browse > select your file > click the arrow next to Open > choose “Open and Repair.”
2. Try Text Recovery Converter
   • In the same Open dialog, click the dropdown for Open with > choose Recover Text from Any File.
   • This may strip formatting but recover text.
3. Check Permissions & Location
   • If the file is on a USB or network drive, copy it to your local disk (e.g., Desktop) and try again.
   • Ensure you have read/write permissions.
4. Recover from AutoRecover or Previous Versions
   • File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.
   • Or right-click the file > Properties > Previous Versions (if enabled).

if it still persists, try some workarounds:

1. Rename the file extension: Change .docx to .zip, extract, and look for word/document.xml (contains text).
2. Try another app: Upload to Google Docs or open in LibreOffice.
3. Safe Mode: Run winword /safe from Run dialog, then open the file.

If you have tried all methods above but still cannot resolve the issue, if this is a school account, contact your school IT helpdesk immediately, they can restore from OneDrive/SharePoint version history if the file was stored there.

I hope information above helpful and can help you resolve the issue ASAP, if you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out.

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Answer 3

I had the same problem today. Unfortunately, my Master's thesis is over 50 pages long. Tried all the suggested ways, even using a recovery tool from a third party. Nothing works.

Answer 4

I am experiencing the exact same issue, content is unreadable and then when I try to recover, it says cannot open, my assignment was just finished and working fine last night and now it is gone! I have tried to recover, is there an issue with Word since Oct/Nov?As I have never come across this issue before and I am totally stressed out as my whole assignment is now gone!