How to Recover Lost or Unsaved Files from LibreOffice?

How do I get my lost LibreOffice files back?

Have you got in the same situation as the user above? When you try to open the LibreOffice files after long hours of working, you can’t find them again. Maybe they are accidentally deleted, or you haven’t saved those LibreOffice files. How do you do?

If you accidentally deleted your LibreOffice files or closed your LibreOffice work without saving them, in this post, there are several methods for recovering accidentally deleted, unsaved, or lost LibreOffice documents.

How to recover unsaved LibreOffice documents?

If you accidentally deleted or didn’t save your LibreOffice document, there are useful ways to recover unsaved or deleted LibreOffice files. LibreOffice saves files in the Open Document Format by default. You can change the default file format manually by going to Tools > Options.

Is it possible to recover the unsaved LibreOffice document? Yes, you can recover unsaved files from LibreOffice by using built-in tools and backup files.

Method 1. LibreOffice document recovery

When you launch LibreOffice, the app will try to recover any unsaved LibreOffice files. With the built-in tool, unsaved LibreOffice files can be restored easily after crash. The program will suggest saving the unsaved file the next time when you open it. Check the steps below to recover unsaved LibreOffice documents.

Step 1. When you open a document that was closed without saving, the program will suggest that you recover the unsaved document.

Step 2. Click "Start", and the unsaved LibreOffice document will be recovered.

Method 2. Recover unsaved LibreOffice backup and temporary files

If LibreOffice doesn’t automatically attempt to recover your unsaved files, no worries, you can still recover unsaved LibreOffice from backup and temporary files. LibreOffice creates backup and temporary files to help users protect their work.

If you accidentally closed a LibreOffice document without saving it, you can go to the AutoSave location to get the unsaved LibreOffice documents back. Follow the steps below to find LibreOffice backup and temporary files.

Notes: This option is disabled by default, you need to enable LibreOffice AutoSave function by going to “Tools” > “Options” > “Load/Save” > “General”. You can find the options “Always create backup copy” and “Save AutoRecovery information every…” in the “save” section. And then you need to tick those options.

Where does LibreOffice save backup files?

Step 1. In the toolbar of LibreOffice, click “Tools” > “Options…”

Step 2. Expand "LibreOffice" in the new window's left sidebar and then click "Paths." Then you can find the paths for LibreOffice backups.

The backup copies saved by LibreOffice are saved in the following folder:

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\LibreOffice\4\user\backup

Step 3. If you want to open this file, you need to launch the LibreOffice program, then navigate to the File/Open menu and select the backup copy (.bak).

How to recover lost files from LibreOffice?

If you lost or accidentally deleted LibreOffice files, you can go to Recycle Bin first, and then check whether you have available backup files, like File History or Windows Backup and Restore. If you don’t have or can’t find files in Recycle Bin, the third-party data recovery software can be your best choice.

Method 1. Restore lost LibreOffice documents from Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin stores your deleted LibreOffice files. Deleted LibreOffice documents are sent to the recycle bin and remain there until manually removed. Files that have been discarded can be easily recovered.

So, if you've lost your LibreOffice files, you can recover them by visiting the Recycle Bin. Here's how to recover deleted LibreOffice files from Recycle Bin.

Step 1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon to open Recycle Bin folder.

Step 2. Right-click your LibreOffice document and select “Restore”. Alternatively, you can drag the document to any folder.

Method 2. Recover deleted LibreOffice files via data recovery software

If you emptied the Recycle Bin, you will need a professional data recovery tool to recover deleted LibreOffice documents. This is the simplest method for restoring permanently deleted files without backup. 

Fortunately, there is reliable data recovery software recommended to you-MyRecover. It can recover more than 200 types of files from hard drives, external hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, cameras, etc. on Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server. Follow the steps to recover deleted LibreOffice files on Windows computers.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer.

Step 2. Hover the mouse over the partition where the deleted LibreOffice documents were saved. Click Scan.

Step 3. The software will scan the partition with a quick scan and deep scan. If you find the deleted file when scanning, you can recover it directly.

Step 4. After scanning, you can locate your deleted files quickly by searching file names or filtering files. And then click “Recover XX files” to save the recovered files to a specified location.

Conclusion

This article discussed possible and working ways to find lost or deleted LibreOffice documents. Hopefully, you can recover lost or unsaved files from LibreOffice. It’s recommended to use MyRecover to recover permanently deleted files within simple steps.

Of course, you can enable LibreOffice AutoSave function to make backups. Alternatively, you can try a useful backup freeware-AOMEI Backupper to make a hard disk, partitions, and file backups.