How to Recover Deleted Word Files on Mac OS X

• Case 1: I accidentally deleted a Word document on my Mac.
• Case 2: Word document files unexpectedly closes and aren't saved.
• Case 3: I lost my Word document on Mac due to the sudden shutdown or crash.

Word document accidentally deleted or lost before saving? When it happens, you can first go to the Mac Trash to restore them to the orginal location. If not, take it easy. In this article, we will offer the best 3 ways to help you recover lost, deleted or unsaved Word document on Mac.

Way 1 How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac

Your Word files can be deleted or lost due to careless or wrong deletion, Option-Shift-Command-Delete or Shift-Command-Delete clicking, system crash, virus attack, hard drive formatting, hard drive corruption and more. Regardless of the causes, we can surely tell you that "Yes, you can rcecover a deleted or lost Word document". As long as you get a powerful Mac data recovery software, you can easily and quickly recover Word document.

1. Recoverit - The Best Software for Word Document Recovery

As for the powerful Word document recovery tool, we recommend Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac. This file recovery program is safe and reliable. It can easily and effectively help you recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac and Windows, even your Word document files are not saved. Follow the next guide to recover deleted, lost or unsaved Word document on Mac.

Recoverit - The Best Software to Recover Word Document

• Recover unsaved, deleted or lost Word document files on Mac effectively, safely and completely.
• Recover lost Word document due to accidetnal deletion, transfer interruption, system crash and virus attack.
• Recover any data and file types like photos, Office files, emails and videos on Mac with a 96% success rate.
• Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.10 - macOS 13 (Ventura); Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista.

Mac Version Win Version

2. How to Recover Deleted or Lost Word Document on Mac

In this section, we're going to provide the specific solution for deleted or lost Word file recovery on Mac. If you're searching for a solution on Windows, please check out this page: how to recover unsaved Word document on Windows computer.

Video Guide to Word Document Recovery on Mac

How Do I Recover a Deleted or Lost Word Document

Free download and install Recoverit Mac Data Recovery on your computer. Follow the next steps to perform deleted files recovery on Mac. Just in 3 steps and minutes, you can get lost files back instantly.

1. Select a Word file location

To recover deleted or lost Word files on Mac, you need to select a location where your Word document were stored. Click "Start" to get started.

2. Scan for lost Word files

Recoverit File Recovery Software will start to scan the hard disk. It will take for a while to deep scan and search the location for deleted files.

3. Preview and recover Word document

After the scanning, you can check all recoverable files. Preview some recovered photos, select your Word document files and click "Recover" button to get them back.

With Recoverit Data Recovery, you can easily recover deleted or lost Word document files on Mac. The reliable data recovery software will keep your system or data private. Download and try it for free now.

Way 2AutoRecovery: How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac

For Word documents not saved promptly, there are also some methods to help get them back. The first method is AutoRecovery. Microsoft Word has an auto save function, which saves your data in a specified folder. In this method, you don't need any Word recovery software. Now, what we're going to do is accessing that folder to retrieve your lost files. Follow the steps:

1. Access this path Finder/Go/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery. Please bear in mind that you have to press the "Option" key while clicking "Go" in finder to be able to access "Library" folder which is usually hidden;

1. Once you see your file, open it;
2. Save your file in any location;
3. You have successfully recovered your file.

Way 3TMP Folder: Recover Word Document Not Saved on Mac

The last way you can resort to for Mac Word document recovery is to open Temporary folder with Terminal.

1. Find and open "Terminal" in Utilities.
2. Type "open $TMPDIR" and press "Enter".
3. Find and open the TMP Folder named "TemporaryItems"
4. Select and save the unsaved Word documents you want.

Usually, your Word document not saved promptly should be in the temporary folder on Mac. If you do not find them, that's because you have deleted them or clean up the folder.

To Wrap Up

It doesn't matter which method you are using to perform lost or deleted Word files recovery on Mac as long as you can get your files back. However, if you lost your files and can't get them back with the Office features, then I suggest you use the Recoverit Word File Recovery Software. It is a truely reliable and workable tool to help you recover Word document on Mac.

Note: Recover Lost Mac Data under Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra)

Due to macOS High Sierra (macOS 10.13) requirement, Mac users are not allowed an access to the built-in system drive from any apps. Therefore, if you need to restore lost data from the system disk under macOS 10.13, please "disable System Integrity Protection" first.

How to disable "System Integrity protection"? Please follow the steps below.

Step 1On hearing the startup chime, reboot the Mac and hold down"Command + R" keys simultaneously to boot OS X into Recovery Mode.

Step 2When the "OS X Utilities" screen appears, pull down the "Utilities" menu at the top of the screen instead, and choose "Terminal".

Step 3In the "Terminal" window, type in "csrutil disable" and press "Enter" then restart your Mac.