How do i recover a document saved directly from download?

Anonymous
2010-04-22T22:35:08+00:00

Hi,

I sent my university coursework to a friend to proof read it. He sent it back with amendments, and i clicked on the attached file in hotmail, and continued working on it, clicking save every few minutes.

However i did not click SAVE AS, and so when i closed the document just now, my entire days work was lost, as it appears to have saved no where. Where had it been saving for the whole day? Can i recover it?

Im currently on windows vista and word 2007.

Thanks

John

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2010-04-22T23:59:43+00:00

You may or may not be able to recover this document since the changes are saved in your Temporary Internet files folder. Note that you can't just open your Temporary Internet Files folder directly and find it due to the way Windows handles your Temporary Internet files but if it's still available, here's how you can get it back:

  1. Open another Word document sent to you as an attachment from an email. If you don't have one, send an email with an

attachment to yourself. (While you should be able to open the same email attachement since another copy of the file is created in your Temporary Internet Files folder, I don't like taking a chance like that.) 2. Click the Office Button, point at Prepare, and then click Properties. The Properties pane will display below the Ribbon. 3. On the far right of the Properties pane you'll see a file path and the document name. Select only the file path and press Ctrl + C to copy it. 4. Press the WinKey + E to open the Windows Explorer. (Or use an alternate method to open it) 5. Paste the copied file path in the Address bar and press Enter.

These steps should put you either in the same location as your revised file or near it. You may need to dig around in other folders to locate it.

Good luck and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :-)

~Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-23T18:57:14+00:00

    This worked like a charm for my missing version of an Excel document.  Best advice I have received from community suggestions and easiest to follow!!

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  2. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-13T23:00:02+00:00

    Did you try and save the file and see where it wants to save it and if it asks if you want to over write and existing file of that name?

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-13T15:36:00+00:00

    Can you find the WinRar file?  If you can, the document may have been saved into it.

     

    If you are not sure where the WinRar file is, try downloading it again and make a note of where it wants to save it, but if it asks if you want to over-write the one that is there, do not do that.

    Yes, I have that WinRar file in 'Downloads'. I tried to open the word file but it doesn't have the additions I made to it. :(

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  4. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-13T07:48:45+00:00

    Can you find the WinRar file?  If you can, the document may have been saved into it.

    If you are not sure where the WinRar file is, try downloading it again and make a note of where it wants to save it, but if it asks if you want to over-write the one that is there, do not do that.

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