Recovering lost file on Word

Question

Microsoft word saved my document as "wrd" with a bunch of random numbers. I noticed it when I went to save my document and now I can't find it anywhere. PLEASEEEEEE HELP MEEEEE!! How do I recover this file? It was saved as something else and then word literally just changed the name on me and now it's not saved anywhere? Wth???!!!!

Answer 1

Further to the reply from Stefan, you cannot find the ~wrd file because it no longer exists. The temporary working files created by the program are deleted when the file to which they pertain is closed normally.

The exceptions are (a) if the program/system crashes while the file is open or (b) if the file is saved in a remote location which doesn't fully support how Word operates. In those cases the temporary files may not be removed. They are of no value to the user & can be deleted safely.

The reply from the Q&A Assist AI bot is irrelevant in its entirety: AutoRecover does not retain those files, points #2 & #3 are valid only on Windows & point #4 doesn't find deleted files as explained above.

Answer 2

~wrl* is a type of temporary files created by Word when you edit a document. The temporary file isn't identical to the Word document (.docx) file you were editing at the time. On a Mac, you won't see temporary unless you choose to display hidden items.

If you regularly synchronize your Office files with OneDrive, sign in to https://onedrive.live.com and see if you can find an older version there.

On the other hand, if you save locally, maybe the document can be restored from the Trash folder. Or check your backup software (Time Machine is built in).

Answer 3

Try these steps on macOS to locate and recover the Word file:

1. Check Word’s AutoRecover folder
   1. Switch to Finder.
   2. On the menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder… (or press SHIFT+COMMAND+G).
   3. Enter this path, replacing <username> with the Mac account name: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
   4. Look for files whose names start with AutoRecovery save of or anything resembling the time you were working. Open them in Word and immediately use File > Save As to save with a proper name.
   Notes:
   • This folder is hidden, so using Go to Folder is required.
   • If the document was closed and Don’t Save was clicked, the AutoRecover copy is deleted and will not be available.
2. Use Word’s “Recover Unsaved Documents” (if the file was never properly saved)
   1. Open Word.
   2. Go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.
   3. Look for a file from the time the issue occurred, select it, then choose Open.
   4. Use Save As to save it with the correct name and location.
3. If the file had been saved before Word renamed it
   1. Open the document (if you can still see any version of it in Word’s Recent list).
   2. Go to File > Info.
   3. Under Manage Documents, see if there is a version labeled (when I closed without saving).
   4. Select it and click Restore (or Compare first, if needed) to get back the earlier version.
4. Search for oddly named files
   1. In Finder, search This Mac for wrd or parts of the random-number name you saw.
   2. Also search for files modified “Today” or at the time you were working, and sort by Date Modified.
   3. Try opening any suspicious .docx or extension-less files in Word and then resave them.

If none of these methods show the file, and Don’t Save was chosen when closing, the content is likely not recoverable because AutoRecover copies are removed in that case.

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References:

• Recover your Word files and documents
• Recover an earlier version of a Word file
• How to recover unsaved Word documents
• Save, back up, and recover a file in Microsoft Office