How to Recover Temporary Word Files on Mac

Have you ever came across a situation when you thought you saved your important work, but when you go back to check it and it is unfortunately nowhere to be found? Well, if this has happened to you now, then you have landed in the right place. This losing of Word documents on a Mac occurs more often than you can expect for various reasons - accidental deletion, virus attack, hard disk failure, etc.

But, the good news is that Word for Mac stores a copy of the document or creates a temporary file of the document that you have not yet saved themselves. So, it means that there is a possibility of getting back your important work.

In this post, we’re going to discuss every plausible method to help you find temporary Word files on Mac.

Quick Navigation

Part 1: Best Way to Recover Temporary Word Files on Mac

Part 2: Look for Temporary Word Documents in Temporary Folder with Terminal

Part 3: Recover Word on Mac with Auto Recovery in Microsoft Word

Part 4: How to Find Temporary Word Files on Mac with Time Machine

Part 1: Best Way to Recover Temporary Word Files on Mac

If you’re looking for the quickest and easiest solution to find temp Word files on your Mac, give iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac a try. This reliable and professional software can help you get back your temporary Word document no matter how you lost it in the first place. Thanks to its advanced technology, you can recover not only Word documents, but many other file types from several storage devices. The strongest point of the software is that it helps you get the job done without affecting already stored data on your system.

To learn how to perform Word Mac temporary files recovery, get the iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac on your computer and follow the below steps.

1. Choose file types

After downloading the software, install and run it. Then, you have to choose the file type(s) you would like to recover. In this case, select "Documents" and hit the "Start" button.

2. Select a location

The next step is to choose the location that you would like to scan to look for lost temporary Word files on your Mac. After then, click the "Scan" button to start the process for recover deleted Word Document on Mac.

3. Preview and recover temporary word files on Mac

Once the scan process completes, the software will let you preview the recoverable data. Finally, go to the "documents" section and select the files you would like to get back and hit the "Recover" button to restore the selected files on your Mac.

Generally, a quick scan is enough to help you get back your temporary Word files. But, if it doesn't meet your expectations, then you can always turn to a deep scan.

Part 2: Look for Temporary Word Documents in Temporary Folder with Terminal

Another quick way to find Mac OS Word temporary files is to access the Temporary folder on Mac. The Apple Mac operating system creates temporary files within your system’s Temporary folder or also known as TMP folder. It might be possible that you are able to find your lost work in this folder.

Here’s the step-by-step guide to learn how to find temporary Work files in Temporary Folder using Terminal.

1. Go to "Finder" > "Application" > "Terminal" to open Terminal.
2. Next, you need to type "open $TMPDIR" and hit "Enter". And then, open "Temporaryitems" to check your temporary word files on Mac.
3. Look for and open the "~Word Word" files with the TextEdit application. Next, copy & paste the text to Office Word.

Although these non-text contents can’t be shown in TextEdit, your newly added content will be saved.

Part 3: Recover Word on Mac with Auto Recovery in Microsoft Word

The Word for Mac features an AutoRecovery option. It is enabled by default. It will automatically save a copy of an open Word document every 10 minutes. Therefore, it the Word stops working or the system crashes, then you can take advantage of the AutoRecovery feature to recover unsaved Work files with the additions or changes you have made in your most recent Word for Mac session.

Unlike recovering temporary files Word Mac, the temporary file recovery on Mac with AutoRecovery is different. Below is the step-by-step guide on how to recover unsaved Word document on Mac using AutoRecovery

1. Go to "Finder" on your Mac and then, open "Go" > "Go to Folder".
2. Enter "~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery" and hit "Go" to get mac OS word temporary files.
3. Open the "AutoRecovery" folder and locate the files starting with words - "AutoRecovery save of". Then, choose the one you would like to get back, rename the file and then, add the filename extension - ".doc".
4. Double-tap the file and the document will open in Word for Mac.
5. Tap the "File" menu and choose "Save As". Here, enter a new name for the file into the "Name" field, choose a folder for the file and hit the "Save" button.

Part 4: How to Find Temporary Word Files on Mac with Time Machine

Using find temporary Word files Mac, you can recover Word Mac temporary files without any hassle provided that you have created a backup of your files using Time Machine.

Let’s learn how to find the temporary Word file on Mac with Time Machine.

1. Open the Time Machine using the spotlight - hit the CMD + Spacebar and then, enter "Time Machine" to open it.
2. Next, locate the target Word file using the timeline.
3. After finding the Word file you would like to restore, select it and click the "Restore" button.

Conclusion: Performing temporary files Word Mac recovery is no more trouble thanks to the solution like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. Unlike other temporary Work document recovery solutions, the best file recovery software for Mac helps you get the job done with great ease and in a few clicks of a button.