Word doc permissions issue, then disappeared completely

[sim84]

Hi, first post here, I just lost a Microsoft Word document I was working on for uni and am at a loss for how to get it back. I went to open it from the recents list, and got the error message: "Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges". So I repaired disk permissions on my hard drive, after which the file was no longer in the recents list, and no longer in the location where it was saved. A spotlight search didn't turn up anything, and I don't have Time Machine or any backup. Am I screwed? I'm on a Macbook Pro mid 2015, OSX 10.10.5.

Cheers,

Simon

 

[honestone]

Without a backup, it looks like the file mysteriously disappeared! What software did you use to Repair Permissions? Also, if you used Disk Utility, did you Repair Permissions at both the Volume and Partition levels?

 

[sim84]

Hi there. I used disk utility, and repaired disk permissions at the partition level, and repaired disk at the volume level.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Have you tried a Spotlight search for the filename of the document?

C

 

[sim84]

Hi, yes, nothing found with spotlight

 

[Cory Cooper]

The only other way that you may be able to find it that I know of, is to look in the folder that it was saved to and see if possibly it was renamed. Also, did you possibly email it to yourself, or copy it to another hard/flash drive at any point?

I hope it wasn' a lot of work to that point, as you may have to start off fresh.

C

 

[sim84]

Hi Cory, it wasn't in the folder it was saved in under a different name. It was only a day worth of work, so I hadn't made a backup yet. I've given up trying to get it back now, but I did get a tip on another forum to check the "always make a backup" option in the "save" preferences in Word. Hopefully that will be useful in future. Cheers.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, that's probably a good idea. Microsoft Office apps are notorious for crashing and losing any progress. When I do use them, I always save every so often, just to make sure. If it is an important document, I will save each revision with the date in the title, so I can only lose any work since the last version.

It's a pain, but it has saved me more than once.

C

 

[honestone]

Even better is to make a backup of your entire "system" too. Time Machine is OK for that, but what is even better is to have a bootable backup/clone, and either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner are ideal for that.

You can still do the Word "backup" too.

 

[sim84]

Thanks guys

 

[picknick]

Hi Simon,

This just happened to me and I called Microsoft and here's the solution to access the file.

Click on your desktop so "Finder" shows up in the top left. Then scroll over and hit "Go", at the same time hold down the "Option" key and then the "Library" option will pop up. When this pops up, select the "Containers" folder then go to the folder ".com.microsoft.Word". After opening this, go to the "Preferences" folder, and then select the "AutoRecovery" folder, your file should be in there.

For me, the document got shifted from a ".doc" to a ".docx" if that is the case then simply drag the file over to your desktop, right click it, select the "Get Info" option, and then look at the file name, and remove the "x" if need be.

I hope this helps you!

 

[Cory Cooper]

That's a great suggestion...hope it works out for you.

Keep us posted.

C

 

[Ro Bo]

In REsponse to PickNick's instructions:

hI there! I am attempting to recover a mysteriously disappeared file as well but following these steps, I am not sure where the "preferences" folder is... I don't see one in the .com.microsoft.Word folder or anywhere else glaringly obvious. Should it be there? Thanks!!

 

[honestone]

I am not having such issues as Ro Bo is, but I followed PickNick's advice. Alas, there was no Preferences folder in that location. The only two "items" there are 1) a Container.plist files, and 2) a Data folder. There is no Preferences folder within the Data folder.

I wonder if the procedure is the same whether one uses Word as part of Office 2011, or Word as part of Office 2016?

 

[Ro Bo]

Yes Honestone, exactly the same for me. I am using 2016.

I am not having such issues as Ro Bo is, but I followed PickNick's advice. Alas, there was no Preferences folder in that location. The only two "items" there are 1) a Container.plist files, and 2) a Data folder. There is no Preferences folder within the Data folder.

I wonder if the procedure is the same whether one uses Word as part of Office 2011, or Word as part of Office 2016?

 

[Victorian_B]

Hi Simon,

This just happened to me and I called Microsoft and here's the solution to access the file.

Click on your desktop so "Finder" shows up in the top left. Then scroll over and hit "Go", at the same time hold down the "Option" key and then the "Library" option will pop up. When this pops up, select the "Containers" folder then go to the folder ".com.microsoft.Word". After opening this, go to the "Preferences" folder, and then select the "AutoRecovery" folder, your file should be in there.

For me, the document got shifted from a ".doc" to a ".docx" if that is the case then simply drag the file over to your desktop, right click it, select the "Get Info" option, and then look at the file name, and remove the "x" if need be.

I hope this helps you!

Oh you saved me big time.

i tried everything to search the file and when i used your advice it appeared in the search. i searched it in this format (.docx) and moved it to the desktop and all good.

many thanks and God bless you.

 

[hashtag flustered]

In REsponse to PickNick's instructions:

hI there! I am attempting to recover a mysteriously disappeared file as well but following these steps, I am not sure where the "preferences" folder is... I don't see one in the .com.microsoft.Word folder or anywhere else glaringly obvious. Should it be there? Thanks!!

After I called Microsoft myself (and had no luck), the Preferences folder is located in the following file path:
Macintosh HD > Users > (your username) > Library > Containers > .com.microsoft.Word > Data > Library > Preferences.

In this "Preferences" folder there is one called "AutoRecovery." IF your file had one generated, it would be in here. Mine did not. According to the Microsoft guy, it's because I clicked "Quit" instead of "Wait" when Word froze...

I went into Microsoft and changed the "Make a Backup Copy" option on. You can turn this on by opening Word, then clicking "Word" on the top left corner, then "Preferences," Then "Save." Backup option is the first option. The frequency of AutoRecovery files is the last option in this menu.

I hope this helps someone. I lost 10 hours of work on an assignment due in a few hours.

 

[Jayman]

Hey guys, I think I've found another solution. I tried the above methods by Picknick's and Hashtag flustered's, but they did not work for me. There may be two possible pathways to get to the file you are looking for : 1.search for it and 2. the location I found the file in, which you can just look up (but obviously I did not know where to look).
One
1. Open Finder.
2. Open Macintosh HD, where you should see (App, Library, System, Users, folders).
3. On the top right hand side click of the Finder window, search.
4. Put in as a few words that were in the document that you lost. try to enter more unique terms you used in the file you lost so that fewer options come up as a result of the search function.
As a result I was able to find the document. Just to be safe I copied it to somewhere else. I changed the file from .docx to .doc. and opened it successfully.
Two
I looked at the location of the file where it saved after it disappeared (initially it was on my desktop) - it is very close to what was posted above.
The location: Users/'Jama'/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Documents.

Definitely try searching if you can't find it.

Hopefully you find your file

 

[sfw]

Same as Picknick and Victorian B.!

Followed Picknick's instructions (which were good!) and almost gave up because I didn't understand at first that I had to go into subfolder "Date" *then* "Library" *then* "Preferences" etc., and I almost gave up again when, after renaming doc in dialog box in "get info" panel by deleting x, I could figure out what to do next . But I just x'd out of that box after assuring it that I wanted to make the change, and I was then able to click open the document!

A day's work saved!

(The same thing had happened to me....Word and my entire computer froze...had to power down and power up...that's when I lost the file).

Thank you both!

Hope this saves someone else.

So, soooooo annoying that this known problem persists without correction or an official searchable post.

Negligence.

What're they thinkin'??????

So so sick of doing corporations' work for them....

 

[missdimps]

Hi does anyone have a solution to this for word 2019? thank you. i tried looking up for the file using the solutions above, but i think the file location is not the same anymore. initially it was on my desktop