In Microsoft Word, how can I recover text from a damaged file?

You can recover text from a damaged Word file in two ways:

• Open and repair
• Recover text from any file

The first method is best because it tries to recover good text from a document; the second method recovers all text. The difference is that if a Word document contains a picture, for example, the "recover all text" option will change the picture into its actual "code" (text) equivalent. The second method will likely recover more text, but it also will be more unrecognizable and will almost certainly require a considerable amount of hand editing.

Note: The user interface for Office 2007 programs is significantly different from that of older versions, and new terms and concepts apply to this Office suite. For information about the new terminology and features, see For Office 2007, what are some new interface features?

On this page:

• Open and repair for Office 2003 and 2007
• Recover text from any file for Office 2003 and 2007

Open and repair for Office 2003 and 2007

1. Open Word.
   
   
   • In Word 2007, click the Office Button, select Open, and browse to the file you want to recover.
   • In Word 2003, click File, select Open, and browse to the file you want to recover.
   
   
2. Click once to select the file you want to recover. Then click the downward arrow on the Open button, and choose Open and Repair.

Recover text from any file for Office 2003 and 2007

This method requires you to make a setting change in Word before actually trying to recover text from your damaged document.

1. Open Word.
   
   
2. Turn on the Confirm file format conversion at Open option:
   
   
   • In Word 2007, click the Office Button. Select Word Options at the bottom, select Advanced from the sidebar, and then scroll down to the "General" section. Check Confirm file format conversion on Open. Then click OK to return to the main Word window.
   • In Word 2003, from the Tools menu, select Options. On the General tab, check confirm conversion at Open. Click OK to return to the main Word window.
   
   
3. In the main Word window, browse to the directory of the file to be recovered:
   
   
   • In Word 2007, click the Office Button and select Open. In the drop-down box next to the "File name" field, choose Recover Text from Any File(*.*). Click to select the file you want to recover, and then click Open.
   • In Word 2003, from the File menu, select Open. In the "Files of type" drop-down box, choose Recover Text from Any File(*.*). Click to select the file you want to recover, and then click Open.

Remember that this method will likely recover more text, but will also require some hand editing to restore formatting.

For more information about recovering text in Word, search the Microsoft knowledge base using the terms recover text from any file .

You can search Microsoft's knowledge base at:

Also see:

• In Microsoft Word, how do I return my document to Word format after it has been formatted as HTML?
• In Microsoft Word, what is the Spike, and how do I use it?
• In Microsoft Word, how do I change my default document folder?
• In Microsoft Office, how do I add Equation Editor?