Info in document disappeared

Question

Opened word document file and noticed some content disappeared,

Answer 1

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

That usually happens if the document was not fully saved, got overwritten, or OneDrive/File History restored an older version of the file.

To help narrow down the issue:

1. Is the file saved locally on the PC or in OneDrive?
2. Do you see the missing entries in Word Online or only in the desktop app?
3. Did the PC shut down, crash, or update recently?
4. When you open the file, does Word show “Read Only” or “Recovered” anywhere?

Also try this:

• Right-click the file > Properties > Previous Versions
• In Word, go to File > Info > Version History
• Check File > Open > Recover Unsaved Documents

Let me know what you find.

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Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Answer 2

Several things can cause content to appear to “disappear” in a Word document. Based on the available information, try these checks and recovery options:

1. Check if the text is hidden inside a field

• If the document now shows messages like Error! Bookmark not defined. or a single repeated error instead of text, the entire document content may have been accidentally enclosed in a field.
• Press Alt+F9 to toggle between field codes and field results.
  • If a large pair of bold field braces { } appears around all the text, select everything inside the braces (not the braces themselves), cut it, paste it after the closing brace, then delete the empty braces and press Alt+F9 again. This restores the visible text.

2. Recover an earlier or unsaved version of the file (Windows Word) If AutoRecover/AutoSave was enabled, an earlier version may still exist:

• If the file was saved at least once:
  1. Open the document.
  2. Select File > Info.
  3. Under Manage Document, select the version labeled (when I closed without saving).
  4. In the bar at the top, select Restore to overwrite the current version, or Compare to review differences first.
• If the file was never saved (or you closed without saving):
  1. Go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.
  2. Select the file from the list and choose Open.
  3. Use Save As to save it to a known location.

3. Recover from AutoRecover files (macOS) If using Word on macOS and Word or the system crashed, AutoRecover files may still exist:
4. Open Finder.
5. Select Go > Go to Folder (or press Shift+Command+G).
6. Enter: /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/com.Microsoft/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery (replace <username> with the actual user name).
7. Look for recent AutoRecovery files related to the document and open them in Word.
8. If the content is present, immediately save the file with a new name.

Note:

• The AutoRecovery folder is hidden; using Go to Folder is required.
• If Don’t Save was chosen when closing the document, the corresponding AutoRecover file is deleted.

4. Use Document Recovery after a crash If Word or Windows recently crashed or restarted unexpectedly, when Word is opened again it may show the Document Recovery pane:
5. In the Document Recovery pane, select the listed version of the file.
6. Choose Open to inspect it.
7. Use Save As to save the recovered version if it contains the missing content.
8. If multiple versions appear, open the most recent one (based on date/time) or compare several to find the one with the full content.

If none of these methods show the missing content, and there is no earlier or AutoRecover version, the removed content is not recoverable from the information available here.

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References:

• Recover an earlier version of a Word file
• Recover your Word files and documents
• Video: Recover Office files
• I was completing a 28 page Word document , did the F9 update and got "Error! Bookmark not defined." with no text at all. How do I recover? - Microsoft Q&A