Imagine that you are working on your Word document and suddenly, BOOM! Your computer crashes and your Word document has gone without being saved. This is such a nightmare. If you are experiencing such a problem and trying to recover your file, this article is meant for you.

Read on below to know how to recover unsaved Word document 2016.

Part 1: How do I Recover An Unsaved Word 2016 Document

In this part, we will show you the details on recovering unsaved or lost Word 206 document. Here are the 4 methods to try. You can choose the one that works for you.

Method 1: Recover Unsaved Word 2016 Document from Document Recovery Pane

Microsoft Office applications allow you to previously opened files after it has crashed. So if your Word document crashed unexpectedly and you didn’t save it beforehand, you will be provided with the Document Recovery Pane so as to recover your unsaved Word document.

So after your Word application has crashed and closed, try to open the Word document that you want to recover, then you should be able to see the Document Recovery Task pane on the left of your document. Then click the down-arrow button to choose Save As to recover.

If the Document Recovery Task Pane doesn’t show up on the current doc, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Word application in your computer.

Step 2: Create a new Word document.

Step 3: When the Document Recovery Pane shows up, click the down-arrow button next to the file you want to recover, and click Save As. Then save your Word document in your computer.

recover unsaved word 2016 document from document recovery pane

Hopefully this will recover your unsaved Word document 2016.

Method 2: Recover Unsaved Word 2016 Document from Info

In addition to Document Recovery pane, Microsoft also provides alternate options for users to recover unsaved documents, such as Recover Unsaved Documents from Info. To do this:

Step 1: Open the Word application in your computer.

Step 2: Create a new Word document.

Step 3: Click File on the upper left corner.

Step 4: Click Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Document. This will allow you to browse recent unsaved files.

recover unsaved word doc from info 1

Step 5: Select the unsaved document copy you want. Click Open.

Another way to open the unsaved document is:

Step 1: Open the Word application and create a new document.

Step 2: Click File from the menu on the top.

Step 3: Click Open > Recover Unsaved Documents. This will open all the unsaved documents in your computer.

recover unsaved word doc from info 2

Step 4: Choose the copy you want and click Open. This will open your Word document 2016 that is lost.

Now check your Word document and remember to save it in your computer. If this method didn’t work for you, don’t give up. You can try the other two methods below.

Method 3: Recover Unsaved Word 2016 Document from Options

Microsoft Office includes Options for you to configure your application, and it’s sort of like Settings we usually meet. The Options can not only help you configure Office settings, but recover unsaved Word document as well.

To know how to retrieve Word files from Options:

Step 1: Click File from the menu on the top.

Step 2: Click Options from the list on the left.

Step 3: Click Save, then find AutoRecover File Location under the Save Documents section, and you will see a location path, and this is where your unsaved word documents are stored.

recover unsaved word 2016 document from autorecover

Step 4: Copy the location path into the clipboard, and open File Explorer, and paste the path in the address bar and press Enter key to open it.

Step 5: Look at your unsaved file in the folder. Usually the file name is %20 [your file name].

Step 6: Don’t open your file here. Select your file and copy it.

Step 7: Open a new blank Word document and paste your document here.

Step 8: Now save your Word document in a new folder.

Hopefully this will help you find your unsaved Word document 2016.

Method 4: Recover Unsaved Word 2016 Document via Stellar Repair for Word

The methods mentioned above requires you to recover lost Word document manually, and you may be overwhelmed by the unfamiliar steps. If that’s the case, you can recover unsaved Word document 2016 automatically – with Stellar Repair for Word.

Stellar Repair for Word is the top Word repair tool to repair Microsoft Word files without any damages. It repairs corrupted Word documents, text, font, hyperlinks, header, footer, etc. Plus, it is very easy and intuitive to use and you can use it even without technical skills.

Step 1: Download and install Stella Repair for Word in your computer, and launch the program.

Step 2: You can click Browse if you know the path of the Word document you want to repair, or you can click Search if you don’t know where it is, then the program will search all the recoverable files for you.

recover unsaved word 2016 document via stellar repair for word 1

Step 3: You can preview each Word document before you save it, so that you can decide whether it is the correct one.

recover unsaved word 2016 document via stellar repair for word 1

Step 4: Select the Word document you want to recover and save it.

Summary

This article introduces four easy methods telling you how to recover unsaved Word 2016 document. You can recover it from MS Word recovery features, or you can try a third-party Word repair tool like Stellar Repair for Word.

By the way, if your forgot your Word password to open it, you can try PassFab for Word – a professional Word Password Recovery Tool.

Part 2: FAQs About Recovering Unsaved Word 2016 Document

Q1: Is there a way to recover unsaved Word document?

Yes definitely! Data recovery has become more and more critical in our daily life and the manufacturers provide various measures for us to recover unsaved documents. Besides, you can also try professional file repair tool to recover your documents.

Q2: How to retrieve deleted Word document?

These are the methods to recover deleted Word document:

  • Way 1: Recover Unsaved Word 2016 Document from Document Recovery Pane
  • Way 2: Recover Unsaved Word Document 2016 from Info
  • Way 3: Recover Unsaved Word Document 2016 from Options
  • Way 4: Recover Unsaved Word Document 2016 via Stella Repair for Word