How to Open or Recover a Corrupted Word File on Mac

You can open or recover a corrupted Word file on your Mac by opening the AutoRecovery folder. Alternatively, you can use the ‘Repair’ or ‘Recover Text’ options or a third-party Mac data recovery software.

Hi, I’m Devansh. A week ago, I was working on an article in Word on my MacBook Air, but when I tried to open it again, all the text appeared gibberish. So, I took steps to recover the file.

In this article, I’ll show you some ways to natively open or recover a corrupted Word file on Mac. If those methods don’t work for you, I’ll introduce you to some excellent file recovery tools and answer common questions.

If you want to recover a Word file on your Mac but don’t know the steps, keep reading!

Method 1: Check AutoRecovery

Before you do anything else, check the AutoRecovery folder on your Mac since you may find a previous version of the corrupted Word file there. To do this, follow these steps.

Step 1: Open Finder, click Go in the menu bar, and Go to Folder.

Step 2: Paste this folder path in the blank box:

/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery

Step 3: Select the Word file you want to open and click Open. Consider saving it separately.

If this method doesn’t work, read on for more solutions.

Method 2: Try Word’s Built-in Recovery Tool

Fortunately, Microsoft Word has a built-in recovery tool. To use it, follow these steps.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word, click File in the menu bar, and select Open.

Step 2: Click On My Mac and locate the corrupted Word file you want to recover.

Step 3: Click the Open menu at the bottom-right of the box and select Repair or Recover Text.

Step 4: Open the document.

If this didn’t work, you’re still not out of options. Here are some quick tips for recovering a corrupted Word file on your Mac before you try a file recovery tool.

• If you’re using an old version of Microsoft Word, update to the latest version and retry.
• Try opening the corrupted file in a different app, such as TextEdit or Pages. You can also save the file with a ‘.rtf’ or ‘.txt’ extension.
• Try opening the corrupted file on another device or ask a colleague to open it on their computer.

If you’ve tried all the above solutions but still didn’t recover the corrupted Word document, you can use file recovery software to retrieve text from the corrupted Word file.

Method 3: Use a Third-party File Recovery Tool

Now, you’ve tried all the native methods to recover a corrupted Word file on your Mac. Since it hasn’t worked, your best option is to use a Mac file recovery tool. Once you install it, you can select the corrupted file and initiate the recovery process.

If you want a native tool, try First Aid instead. These tools can scan your Mac and attempt to recover files.

FAQs

Here are some common questions about recovering a corrupted Word file on Mac.

How to Recover a Corrupted Word File in Office 2011?

Click Open on the toolbar and Recover Text from Any File in the following menu. Once done, open the document. Alternatively, go to this folder: /Library/Application Support/ Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery.

Can Word File Be Corrupted Due to Buggy Add-Ins or Templates?

Yes. To test this, put your Mac in Safe Mode and open Word. If the file opens without any problems, disable and remove any suspicious add-ins and templates to prevent future corruption.

How Can You Prevent Word Files From Getting Corrupted in the Future?

There are a few best practices you can follow. For example, keep Word updated, use a surge protector for your Mac, and avoid using damaged or infected disks. In addition, you can also use an antivirus like McAfee or Norton to protect your Mac from malware.

Conclusion

To open or recover a Word file on Mac, your best option is to open the AutoRecovery folder. If you can’t find a version of the Word file there, you can open the corrupted file using the ‘Repair’ or ‘Recover Text’ options. As a last resort, you can try a file recovery tool.

Remember that the success rate of recovering a corrupted Word file depends on several factors. However, the above methods are worth trying if you need to recover a corrupted Word file.

Do you have further questions about recovering a corrupted Word file on Mac? Let me know in the comments!