unable to retrieve file with word

Try these steps in order to get the text back and confirm whether the files are really blank or just not opening correctly.

1. Open Word first, then the file from inside Word
   1. Start Word.
   2. Select File > Open > Browse.
   3. Navigate to the folder where the document was saved and open it from there.
   4. If it still appears blank, continue with the next steps.
2. Check for AutoRecover/unsaved versions
   1. In Word, go to File > Info.
   2. Under Manage Document, look for a version labeled (when I closed without saving) and select it.
   3. If it opens and shows the content, select Restore to overwrite the current file, or Compare if needed.
   4. If the file was never properly saved, go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents, select any listed file, then Open, and then Save As.
3. Use Document Recovery after a crash If Word or Windows crashed while editing:
   1. Close Word completely.
   2. Reopen Word.
   3. If the Document Recovery pane appears with entries like document name [Original] or document name [Recovered], double-click each entry.
   4. For any file that shows the correct content, select File > Save As and save as a .docx file.
4. Search for backup and temporary copies
   1. In Windows, select Start, type the document name (or part of it), and press Enter. If it appears under Documents, double-click to open.
   2. To search for Word backup files, select Start, type *.wbk, and press Enter. Open any file named Backup of your file name.
   3. To search for temporary files, select Start, type *.tmp, press Enter, and look for files with dates/times matching when the document was edited. Then in Word, use File > Open and browse to open them.
5. Check the AutoRecover folders (Microsoft 365 subscription) If using a Microsoft 365 subscription on Windows, check:
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
   • C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles Replace <UserName> with the Windows account name. Open any files found there from Word using File > Open > Browse.

If none of these methods show any content in any version, the original files may have been saved empty or may be corrupted. In that case, create a new test document, type a few words, save it, close Word, reopen Word, and open that test file via File > Open to confirm whether new saves work correctly.

References:

• Recover your Word files and documents
• How to recover unsaved Word documents
• Recover an earlier version of a Word file