How to Recover the Latest Version of a Word Document in Windows?

How do I recover a recent version of a Word document?

Have you struggled to recover previous version of Word documents like the above user? If you’re seeking ways to recover replaced files, this passage might be your treatment.

How to recover a previous version of a Word document?

This tutorial lists two methods on how to recover the latest version of a Word document. Please note the prerequisites for these solutions.

Solution 1. Recover previous version of Word document directly  

Released by Microsoft, previous versions can provide several earlier/older files version with you. And these versions are backup copies or shadow copies made by File History or System Restore.

Thus, if you want to find the previous version of Word documents, ensure you’ve activated File History or System Protection of the local disk that saves your desired Word files.   

Notes:✎...

After turning on File History or System Protection, you will get a history of your files or folders according to the time. Before the restoration process, you can browse and select the Word document you want based on your needs.

This solution only applies to Win8 and later users because File History was released in Windows 8.0 operating system. 

Step 1. Open Windows File Explorer by pressing the “Win + E” keys.

Step 2. Locate the folder that contains your needed Word files before data coverage. Then right-click on your selected folder and click the “Properties” button.

Step 3. Browse and select the latest Word version you want from all the listed versions. Then click the “Restore” button to get it back.

Solution 2. Recover previous version of Word document via AutoSave

Is there another way to recover previous version of Word documents? It turns out there is. If you’ve enabled the AutoSave feature, this built-in feature will automatically save the files at default (10 min) or customized time intervals.

Please note that there will be no sign of the recently auto-saved Word files if you haven’t edited or modified your Word documents for a long period. Likewise, this feature also can help you recover overwritten Excel files.

These steps describe how to recover the latest version of a Word document in Windows.

Step 1. Open Word, then click File > Info on the left menu.

Step 2. In the Manage Versions section, select the latest version of the Word document from all the listed Word versions.

Step 3. Click the “Restore” button to get your selected Word document back.

Further reading: How to recover deleted/lost Word documents with ease?

If you’re in this part, which suggests you’re more inclined to recover deleted/lost Word documents. Without a doubt, there’s no better way than utilizing top-rated data recovery software for Windows to perform data recovery.

There’re some criteria for selection.

MyRecover is such a powerful and user-friendly data recovery tool, which can meet your varied needs.  

★Tips: 

 Recover the deleted/lost files from HDD, USB, SD cards, and other storage devices.

 Recover Word, Excel, PPT, Photos, Videos, Audio, Emails, Compressed files, and other 200+ types of data.

 Keep the original path, filename, and format for the deleted files.

 During scanning, search your targeted Word documents by entering their filenames in the search bar or wait to find all the deleted and other lost files on your computers after running Quick Scan and Deep Scan automatically.

 Support NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and ReFS file systems in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and Windows Server.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your PC.

Step 2. After launching it, hover the mouse over the drive, and click Scan.

Step 3. Search or wait to view all the deleted and other missing files after scanning.

Step 4. Go to the Deleted files/Other missing files folder, and select the Word files you want. Then click “Recover x files” and save them in a new saved path.

Relevant Q&A for Word documents

The above content has explained how to recover the latest version of a Word document and how to recover deleted/lost Word documents. Please refer to the corresponding part to address your issues. Meanwhile, there’re other relevant tips for Microsoft Word.