Word Doc disappered; tried everything...

[MacTeacher]

Hi. Long time lurker, first time poster.

A couple of weeks ago the lithium battery on my 2009 MacBook Pro finally crapped out and the inadvertent power shutdown seems to have corrupted my word files. I also updated Mavericks that day.
The file is not in my documents folder, although when I open Word and look in Recently opened files, I get an image that looks like the image I attached below.
It shows the doc's correct name and the path to where the doc should be found, but when I try to open it manually, I get a message that says my computer can't find it and would I like to find it myself.

I have looked everywhere. I searched hidden files, Word AutoSave files, with no luck.

I need some help guys and gals!

Things I have tried with no luck:
1) Checking Word AutoSave Files
2) Searching hidden files
3) Restarting
4) Using a File Recovery program (took FOREVER and I recovered some files I didn't even realize were missing, but not the important doc in question).

Please help!!

View attachment Screen Shot 2014-09-29.pdf

 

[harryb2448]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

First up, go into Finder (the face on the left end of the Dock) by double clicking andf see if it is any Documents by chance. Also check Word Preferences to ensure making a backup every ten minutes is selected. Also saving as .doc is more accepted than .docx.

 

[pm-r]

Maybe in your backup???

Try Find Any File to search, it can find it if it hasn't gone poof or been overwritten:
Thomas Tempelmann - Find Any File
Find Any File for Mac | MacUpdate

The power crap out shouldn't have wiped the whole file if it had been saved at any point, but unfortunately the Word AutoSave can and has wiped out files when it goofs up.

A writer friend lost a good part of the book he was writing many years ago due to his Word AutoSave and its goof up. Sorry for your mishap.

 

[chscag]

We've been thru this before. First, the autosave feature in Mac Word does not work and the auto recovery feature is unreliable. The only thing that does work is to select "Always create a backup copy" in the Word preferences under "Save". That way, each time you save the file a backup copy is updated. And... make sure you manually save often.

As for your Word file that was lost, it's probably gone forever or overwritten if the data recovery program couldn't find it.

 

[Rod]

We've been thru this before. First, the autosave feature in Mac Word does not work and the auto recovery feature is unreliable. The only thing that does work is to select "Always create a backup copy" in the Word preferences under "Save". That way, each time you save the file a backup copy is updated. And... make sure you manually save often.

As for your Word file that was lost, it's probably gone forever or overwritten if the data recovery program couldn't find it.

Thank you chscag for that helpful hint on backup copy pref. My wife has lost a few docs over time although not since she adopted frequent manual save but it's easy to forget that and any additional precautions are good to know.

 

[McBie]

It has been said many times before but I will say it again .....
Backups, Backups, Backups.

These days it is so easy to implement a proper backup strategy using an external media.
It still beats me why people use a computer to handle ( important ) data and knowingly decide not to use backups.

I know this is not a solution for the OP, but it may help others before it is too late.

Cheers ... McBie

 

[Rod]

We both sound like broken records on this subject. Another issue is (although this may not be the case this time) don't keep important docs on the desktop. I see this all the time and it's very risky bad practice.

 

[chscag]

We both sound like broken records on this subject. Another issue is (although this may not be the case this time) don't keep important docs on the desktop. I see this all the time and it's very risky bad practice.

It's a left over bad habit from Windows. Some years ago I worked with someone who put everything on his desktop (Windows XP). It was so crowded that icons were overlapping! Talk about a mess.

 

[Rod]

Yep, I have seen this too.

 

[McBie]

We both sound like broken records on this subject.

Is that a good thing ?

Cheers ... McBie