How to Recover Deleted or Unsaved Word and Excel Documents

Losing a document splits into two very different problems: a file you deleted, and one you closed without saving. The fix is different for each, so start by working out which one you’re dealing with.

Recovering an unsaved document

If you closed Word or Excel without saving, Office’s own safety nets are your best bet — try these first:

• AutoRecover: reopen the app. Office often shows a Document Recovery pane with the last auto-saved copy.
• Recover Unsaved Documents: in Word or Excel, go to File → Info → Manage Document (or Workbook) → Recover Unsaved Documents.
• AutoRecover folder: check %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles and the app’s AutoRecover file location (under File → Options → Save).

Recovering a deleted document

If the file existed and was deleted or lost, it behaves like any other file — the data lingers on disk until overwritten.

1. Check the Recycle Bin first. If it’s not there (or was emptied), keep going.
2. Install DéjàFile and quick-scan the drive the document was on.
3. Filter to Documents or search by name (e.g. “budget” or “.docx”). Word and Excel files are recovered with their original names and dates.
4. Preview, check the recoverability rating, and recover to another drive. DéjàFile then confirms the file actually opens.

If you saved over it

Saving a new version over an old one is a different problem — see how to get a previous version back. Office Version History (especially on OneDrive/SharePoint) and DéjàFile’s File Vault are the reliable routes there.

If the document opens but is corrupted

Word and Excel have a built-in Open and Repair option (in the Open dialog, click the arrow next to Open). If a deep scan carved the file, its recoverability rating tells you up front whether it’s likely to open cleanly.

FAQ

Where does Word store AutoRecover files?

Typically under %AppData%\Microsoft\Word and %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles. The exact path is shown in File → Options → Save.

Can I recover an Excel file I never saved at all?

Often yes, via Recover Unsaved Workbooks if AutoRecover was on. If it was disabled, there may be no copy to recover — worth turning it on now for next time.

The .docx recovered by a deep scan won’t open — why?

Modern Office files are ZIP-based; if part was overwritten, the archive can be incomplete. That’s why DéjàFile grades recoverability and verifies files — so you know before you rely on one.