Cannot open a rescued Word document.doc

Anonymous
2012-02-08T22:50:45+00:00

Microsoft Word errored out and I was forced to save a document as rescued document.doc.  However, when I try to open the doc, I get the message: 

"Microsoft Word cannot open this file because it is an unsupported file type."

How can I recover the contents?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-03-28T23:04:28+00:00

I know this thread is old but I have been trying the get past the "Microsoft Word cannot open this file because it is an unsupported file type" error when opening standalone .asd files all day today as my home backup task makes copies of the asd files that Word creates every 5 minutes and pastes the copy .asd into a separate folder to assist recovery from accidental deletions.  Call me paranoid :-)

The discovery I thought worth sharing is that I was able to successfully open .asd files with all the original formatting and text and the file looked exactly like the last time it was saved.  Previous to this discovery I kept getting the "......unsupported file type" error and the best i could do was recover the text using the text recovery or notepad options.  The same .asd files that couldn't open before now open correctly in "Read Only" mode but have all the text and formatting saving you minutes or hours of formatting work!

So here it is: (it's so simply but it works)

The first step is the most important - this is what made it work!

(1) Place a copy the .asd file into the unsaved files folder.  The location of this folder on my system is "C:\Users%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles"

(2) Open Word and click on File - Recent

(3) Looking down the bottom of the screen you see a button/box titled "Recover Unsaved Documents"

(4) Click that button/box and open the .asd file you placed in the unsaved files folder in Step (1).

If it works then a smile returns to your face and all is forgiven.  Blood pressure subsides and everyone is happy again.  If it doesn't work then the .asd is possibly corrupt and try recovering just the text out of the file using all the suggestions on this thread and the internet.  Good luck!

Last comment: Without doing the first step of placing the .asd file into the special folder I couldn't get past the error.  I'm not an advanced Word problem solver just a person trying to make my back routine work.  My environment is Windows 7 64-bit /  Word 2010 32-bit.

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Anonymous
2012-02-21T19:50:27+00:00

Thanks Varun.  None of those suggestions worked, but it gave me an idea.

I opened WordPad.

On File Open, I selected *.*, the *.doc and the document opened.

I was able to then recover the text.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-27T22:34:26+00:00

    I would like to know why the clowns in Redmond have to leave the world in a state where people even have to say "whew!!!".  Why is it even necessary to use Google to find out how to simply access a backup file???  As a Mac user trying to return to Windows, I have to ask myself "why" I would do such a daft thing! So much of Microsoft's software is so appalling grotesque when it comes to doing simple obvious thing that it almost seems that they deliberately make simple things complicated and difficult just so that they can support an industry that writes books on how to use their ****.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-27T22:31:09+00:00

    Wow, yes, copying the file into that folder makes recovery possible (at least in my case).  I just cannot believe the utter stupidity of Microsoft's software that the .asd file could not be opened by double clicking on it.  How many people have lost work because of this stupidity.  In essence, a .asd recovery file is only useful if it is placed in a special location which is not its actual home (it has to be moved there).

    As for my context, I have lost 2 days work thanks to MS Word telling me that it was saving to OneDrive when in fact it wasn't.  The OneDrive files are 2 days older that the .asd file which is on my backup HDD.  I simply cannot trust MS to save my files responsibly.  I don't want all the complicated **** of storing them as .asd and hiding them in \appdata folders.  Why can we not just have a simple backup folder with no options other than a reliable backup?

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-04-25T19:23:22+00:00

    I know this post is old but you have literally just saved my degree!

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