Lost a "Saved" file that I worked on from an email attachment

Anonymous
2010-04-29T14:47:01+00:00

I downloaded an attachment and forgot to put it into one of my Word folders; I just started working on it as a Word document.  It had the name of the attachment so I was not as aware that I had forgotten to save it in a file.  I worked on it for hours and frequently hit "save", which it appeared to do.  I wanted to send it to someone so I closed the file and then I couldn't find it anywhere.  Is it completely gone or saved somewhere I can't find it?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2010-04-29T15:05:00+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:

Word 2010-2016

  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 attachment 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 File, and then click Info.
  3. At the top, below the name of the file, locate the document path. It will be similar to the path shown in the screenshot at the bottom of this post next to E-mail attachment.
  4. Click in the path (after you click in that area, it will turn into a text box) and select only the file path, as shown in the screenshot.
  5. Press Ctrl + C to copy it.
  6. Press the Windows Key + E to open the File Explorer. (Or use an alternate method to open it)
  7. Paste the copied file path in the Address bar (Ctrl + V) and press Enter.

These above 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 the file.

Word 2007

  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.

Note that if you're not using Word 2007 then please let us know the version of Word you are using so that we can provide the necessary steps. For previous versions, to find your version of Word, click Help and then click About Microsoft Word.


~Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP

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Anonymous
2018-02-07T17:49:01+00:00

Did you try the steps in the solution? To recap and update the instructions for Word 2016:

  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 attachment 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 File, and then click Info.
  3. At the top, below the name of the file, locate the document path. It will be similar to the path shown in the screenshot at the bottom of this post next to E-mail attachment.
  4. Click in the path (after you click in that area, it will turn into a text box) and select only the file path, as shown in the screenshot.
  5. Press Ctrl + C to copy it.
  6. Press the Windows Key + E to open the File Explorer. (Or use an alternate method to open it)
  7. Paste the copied file path in the Address bar (Ctrl + V) and press Enter.

These above 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 the file.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-04T10:01:46+00:00

    THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-10-25T07:51:47+00:00

    See the following page of Graham Mayor's website:

    http://www.gmayor.com/outlook\_attachments.htm

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-25T07:35:14+00:00

    Hi there, would love some help with a file. 

    Using Windows 10 Enterprise and Microsoft Outlook 2013, I opened up a Microsoft Word file in Word 2013. I worked on it for about five hours, but forgot to save it onto the hard disk anywhere. I pressed CTRL+S to save occasionally. I then pressed CTRL+S and closed the file - only to realize to my horror that it was gone. 

    The file is still in my recent files list but I get a directory name is not valid message.

    I have found the temp folder (C:\Users\myname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache) as per other instructions, but the only version of the file is from when I first opened the email - it doesn't contain any of my edits.

    I have also tried the instructions here: https://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/securetemp.htm 

    (Oh, and I used the "open an Excel file to find the temp folder trick" and again, the only version of the file is the original one I opened, that does not have any of my edits)

    I have not closed Word (which had another document open), and I have not closed Outlook.

    I have not tried to re-open the attachment as I thought that may void a possible solution...

    Any help would be gratefully received!

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