When Word crashes and the AutoRecover pane doesn't show your file, most people assume it's gone. It usually isn't — Word writes several different kinds of temporary files as you type, and they don't all show up in the same place. This walks through each location in the order you're most likely to find something.
01Reopen Word first
Before searching manually, just relaunch Word. If it detects an unclean shutdown, it opens a "Document Recovery" pane on the left automatically. Save anything listed there immediately with a new name — don't trust it to still be there next time you open Word.
02Check the AutoRecover file folder directly
If the pane didn't appear, the AutoRecover file itself might still be sitting in its folder.
- Windows:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word - macOS:
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
Look for files ending in .asd (Windows) or starting with "AutoRecovery save of" (Mac). Open Word, go to File → Open, and point it directly at the file.
03Search for temp files
While you're typing, Word also writes hidden temp files that sometimes survive a crash even when AutoRecover doesn't.
- Open File Explorer or Finder.
- Search your user folder (or the folder your document was originally saved in) for files starting with
~or~WRL. - These are often locked or partial, but they can be renamed and reopened — try changing the extension to
.docxif it isn't already.
04Check File → Info → Manage Document
If you had the document open at some point during the current Word session (even before the crash, in a related session), open Word, go to File → Info, and look for a "Manage Document" or "Recover Unsaved Documents" button. This pulls from a separate unsaved-files cache that's distinct from AutoRecover.
05Check OneDrive or SharePoint version history
If your Word file lives in a OneDrive or SharePoint folder — even if you don't remember saving — Office silently syncs versions in the background. Right-click the file in File Explorer or the OneDrive web app and choose "Version history."