How to Identify and Recover Your Damaged Documents in Microsoft Word?
In this post, you'll learn how to identify if your computer incorporates a damaged Microsoft Word document and how to recover the same. The steps mentioned below support the Microsoft Word 2007 and higher versions. The steps are mainly divided into two parts. The first part is for identifying a damaged document and the second part is to recover it.
1. Steps to Identify a Damaged Document There are two methods to check if a Microsoft Word document is damaged. One is to check any strange behavior of a document and another is to check for similar behavior in other documents in your device. To check any strange behavior of a document –
Check if your device get stuck while opening a particular file
Check if the existing pages get renumbered repeatedly
Check if any unreadable character appears
Check if the document format or layout is incorrect
Check repeated page breaks in a document
Check for any error message while processing
If you find any of this then you don’t need to check further but if you still unable to spot the issue then you should look for similar behavior in your other documents and Microsoft Office programs to eliminate them.
2. Steps to Recover a Damaged Document After identifying the damaged document, it’s the time to try if you can recover it. By following the steps below you can continue with the process. Two methods are described here, you can go with the convenient one. Method 1: Start Microsoft Word with the Default Settings Close Microsoft Word In the OS Search Box type “Run” Now type “winword.exe /a” in the “Open” dialog box After Microsoft Word opens, click on “File” -> “Open” Now click on the damaged document and click on “Open” This will potentially recover the damaged document. But, if the issue persists then follow the next Method. Method 2: Change the Format of a Word Document and then reconvert it to Word Format again Open Microsoft Word After Microsoft Word opens, click on “File” -> “Open” Now click on the damaged document and click on “Open” Click on “File” and then Click on “Save As” In MS Word, click on “Other Formats” -> “Save as File Type” -> “Rich Text Format (*.rtf) -> “Save” -> “Close” Again open the document and click on “File” -> “Open” -> Click on the Converted Document -> “Open” -> “File” -> “Save As” Now rename the document and choose “Word Document (*.docx) as file type and then “Save”