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Recover a corrupted file

Sometimes a file can be damaged or “corrupted” in such a way that Word can't open it normally. This can sometimes happen when your computer crashes or you lose power. Fortunately, this doesn’t always mean all of your hard work is lost. Word as a specific command might be able to recover your corrupted file.

Watch the video below to learn more about recovering files with the Open and Repair command.

Steps

1. Navigate to the File tab in Word. Then click Open. 
2. Select Browse and go to the location or folder where the corrupted file is stored.
3. Select the corrupted file and click the drop-down arrow next to the Open button.
4. Click Open and Repair. Wait for Word to attempt to repair the file.
5. If successful, the document will open. Save the file immediately.

To prevent file issues in the future, be sure to make backup copies of your documents as you work. You might also consider storing documents online with Microsoft OneDrive.

In the next lesson, we’ll show you how to link text within a Word doc. 

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