Two lost Word files on MacBook

Question

Hey,

I am a writer and save all my work on a folder on my desktop. Today I went to continue my work and realised that two files were missing. Two books that I have been working on. The first one was a completed third draft, the second one a working draft.
I went to open the writing folder on my desktop as per usual but it was not even where it usually is. I found it in Finder and pulled it out. The two files that I am working on are usually open but they were closed and not in the writing folder once I had retrieved it.
I have checked for them everywhere, in all of the places suggested online, finder folder, one drive, cloud, no luck. I don't think I had enough storage on the cloud. I called apple and had two people on the phone with me screen sharing and searching my computer for them, no luck. They were not in the trash or in any cashe folders or library folders.
I don't understand how they can just be gone? Maybe I might loose what I had worked on that day but not the entire file, a culmination of 5 years of work. I am truly heartbroken, I have given a lot of myself to these pieces.
When I open Word, the documents appear in my recent history but when I try to open them it says I do not have access to them or I do not have access privileges as if they are protected or something, it makes no sense to me.
If there is anyone that can shed light on this for me I would be so grateful. Even knowing what could have happened might help me a little to move on from it and not be driven crazy by what feels like a cruel trick.

Grace

Answer 1

If you files were stored on OneDrive, use the Version History feature to look for older versions of your file.

If you are running the macOS Time Machine utility, check it for versioned backups of your files.

The best practice with important documents is to use File>Save As on a regular basis. With client files, I do this at least once a day. Save the file with a slightly different name each time. Then you have backup files that you can go back to if something goes wrong.

Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating situation with your missing Word files. Here are some steps you can take to try to recover your documents:

1. Check AutoRecover Files: Sometimes, Word saves temporary versions of your documents. You can search for AutoRecover files by going to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents in Word. This may help you find a recent version of your work.
2. Search for Temporary Files: You can also look for temporary files on your Mac. Open Finder and search for files with the .tmp or .asd extensions. These might be backup versions of your documents.
3. Check the Recent Documents List: Since you mentioned that the documents appear in your recent history, try to access them directly from there. If you receive an error about access privileges, it could indicate that the files are corrupted or that there are permission issues.
4. Permissions Check: If you're unable to access the files, check the permissions on the folder where the documents are stored. Right-click on the folder, select Get Info, and ensure that your user account has the necessary permissions to read and write to that folder.
5. Recovery Tools: If the above steps do not work, consider using file recovery software that is compatible with macOS. These tools can sometimes recover lost or deleted files.

If you still cannot locate your files after trying these methods, it may be beneficial to consult with a data recovery specialist.

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References:

• How to recover unsaved Word documents
• Recover files in Office for Mac