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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

2 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

66 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2010-05-28T15:59:53+00:00

    Almost certainly the doc is lost. As pointed, the doc is only part of the Internet Temp folders and attachments get cleaned out. IN OL 2010, you can no longer open an attachment without first saving it to the local HDD and I believe that the registry has been patched for OL 2007 to make users do the same.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-05-28T15:42:55+00:00

    Sharon,

    I have already followed the instructions suggested above, hence why I am able to indicate the path in my post.  The instructions however do not work.  Are the any other methods someone can offer?

    Thanks

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-05-28T04:52:15+00:00

    Hi Smitty Cavalier,

    Scroll up in this thread to read the solution proposed by Doug Robbins for e-mail downloads into Word 2003:

    Quote:

    **In Word 2003, after opening a document by clicking on the attachment to an email message, select Properties from the File menu and go to the General tab and copy the path (without the filename) that is shown to the right of Location: Then proceed with steps 4 and 5 of the original instructions provided by Beth.**Unquote.

    Steps 4 and 5 referenced by Doug can be found directly above Doug's reply in a post by Beth Melton.

    I sincerely hope that this helps you get your document back ... I think we all know how painful this is!

    Good luck. Let us know how you get on?

    All the best,

    Sharon

    Sharon Roffey

    Queensland, Australia

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-05-28T04:08:12+00:00

    Can someone please help me find a word document that I opened via Yahoo email attachement and then used "save as" from MS Word 2003.  I have a shortcut that could be found when searching the filename directly but alas it indicates that the file does not exist of has been renamed.  The target for this file is listed as C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\JZ15H8YB.  The trouble is that only minutes after saving the file with continual updates I am unable to locate the "JZ15H8YB" directory anywhere!  Where could this file have gone?  I didn't hit "save" instead I chose "save as" and renamed my file immediately upon opening.  The only mistake I made, is not choosing a more permanent storage location.  Could the cached file truely be gone even though I see thousands of other useless files still in many other "temporary" file storage locations.  This is a vey important file and I would appreciate your help as soon as possible to locate/retrieve it.

    Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments