How to Restore Previous Version of Word Document [Straightforward Methods]

After writing a passage in Microsoft Word, you may need to edit the content many times. What should you do if you want to restore the previous version of a Word document when you think the previous version is better? Luckily, you may have multiple methods to restore the Word documents. This operation can also help you when you accidentally close Word without saving and MS Word quits unexpectedly.

We will offer a detailed tutorial on each method in the following sections, and you may learn basic information from the table below:

Solutions	Reviews
🏅Professional Recovery Software	This is the most straightforward method, and you can restore other unsaved files with EaseUS data recovery software.
📃MS Word AutoRecover	Microsoft Word has a built-in utility called AutoSave. You can restore Word to a previous version or restore unsaved Word if you have enabled this option.
🗂️Windows Restore Previous Version	The Windows operating system also has an option to restore a file/folder to the previous version.
☁️Restore from OneDrive	If you have synced old Word documents with OneDrive, you'll find the previous Work version in OneDrive.

Fix 1. Restore Previous Version of Word Documents with Recovery Software

Most recovery software can only support recovering deleted Word documents on the PC and cannot find unsaved Word documents effectively. We recommend EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro. This reliable document recovery tool can make unsaved data recovery easier and faster.

You can download this software to get a more intuitive feel for the functions of this product.

With the powerful scan ability, you can restore lost files easily with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard:

• ⭐Recover unsaved Word documents without any backups on Windows 11/10/8/7.
• ⭐Recover unsaved PowerPoint and Excel files. With this tool, you'll need a few clicks to recover unsaved file files.
• ⭐Recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin and other storage devices, such as SSDs, USB flash drives, external hard disks, SD cards, etc.

Here's a video that may help you understand how to recover and restore an unsaved Word document to a previous version. You can check the video tutorial to download and restore Word files with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro:

• 00:00 Recover deleted Word files from the Recycle Bin
• 00:57 How to use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
• 02:51 Recover Word files with the AutoRecover option

To ensure you learn every detail of unsaved Word recovery, here's a written tutorial:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on the computer. Choose the disk where you lost the unsaved files, and click "Scan".

Step 2. You'll see the Path and Type tab on the left side,  click "Type" and "Unsaved Files". You can double-click the folder to open it or click "Open". This unsaved file recovery software will help you recover unsaved Word, Excel, PPT, and other files with ease.

Step 3. Choose target files and click the "Preview" button. Then, click "Recover" to restore these unsaved files. Be careful not to revert the recovered files to the original location, as this may overwrite the file.

We hope this product really helps you with data recovery, and you can share this passage on social media to help more users!

Fix 2. Restore Word Previous Version with MS AutoRecover

With Microsoft Office's useful built-in option, you can restore Word files' previous version without effort. This method only works when the AutoRecover utility is turned on. 

The operation will differ in different situations, and this method also works to recover the previous version of the Excel file after saving:

Situation 1. The Word file is saved:

Step 1. Open the target Word document with Microsoft Word by right-clicking.

Step 2. Click the File tab, and choose "Info" from the sidebar.

Step 3. Select the file with the label "when I closed without saving" under the Manage Documents section.

Step 4. Then, you can find and click "Restore" to retrieve the previous version of the Word files.

Situation 2. The Word file is not saved:

Step 1. Open the MS Word and go to File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents.

Step 2. Find the target document and click "Open". Then, click "Save As" and choose a location to save it.

Fix 3. Use the Restore Previous Version in Windows

If the two methods are not working well, you can try to restore the previous version of the folder or file in File Explorer:

Step 1. Go to the folder that keeps the Word document you want to restore the version.

Step 2. Find the Word file and right-click it. Then, choose "Properties".

Step 3. Choose the "Previous Versions" tab, and select a version to restore.

You may notice that the previous versions come from File History or restore points. If you haven't enabled the auto backup in Windows, this method may not work.

Check a more detailed tutorial on restoring the previous version in the following passage:

Fix 4. Restore the Previous Version from OneDrive

One last method of restoring Word documents to the previous versions is from OneDrive. Have you enabled to automatically save Word files to OneDrive? If you have done so, this method will be effective.

Step 1. Sign in to OneDrive with the correct account.

Step 2. Right-click the Word file you want to restore, and choose "Version history".

Step 3. Click the ellipsis beside the file and choose "Restore".

The recommended passage will show you how to recover permanently deleted files from OneDrive:

✅Advanced Tip: How to Enable AutoSave in Microsoft Word

Don't want to lose essential Word documents anymore? Creating backups and enabling AutoSave in Microsoft Word will be useful to avoid data loss.

We'll guide you on enabling AutoSave in MS Word:

Step 1. Launch Microsoft Word and go to "File"> "Options".

Step 2. After the Options pane opens, select the "Save" tab.

Step 3. Make sure you have checked "Save AutoRecover information every x Minute".

The tutorial is similar if you need to turn on AutoSave in Excel. After learning all the restore solutions, you can share them with more friends!

Summary

Restoring a previous version of a Word document allows you to retrieve an earlier version of a file, either because you made accidental changes or lost important information.

This passage provides four tested methods to help you restore the Word files. By understanding and utilizing these methods, you can effectively restore previous versions of Word documents and retrieve lost or modified content.

If you want to go over these methods again, click the following link:

• Fix 1. Restore Previous Version of Word Documents with Recovery Software
• Fix 2. Restore Word Previous Version with MS AutoRecovery
• Fix 3. Use the Restore Previous Version in Windows
• Fix 4. Restore the Previous Version from OneDrive

Restore Word to the Previous Version FAQs

The following 3 frequently asked questions can help you learn more about today's topic:

1. How do I recover a Word document I accidentally saved over?

Many solutions can help you recover a Word document that you accidentally saved over:

• Recover with MS Word AutoRecover
• Restore previous versions of the file
• Restore from OneDrive

2. How to restore a previous version of Word documents online?

If you want to restore a previous version of a Word document online, you need to make sure you have created backups of the previous version with OneDrive or another cloud backup utility. You can go to OneDrive > find the target Word document > select a version to restore.

3. Can I restore the previous version of Word documents with software?

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can help you restore the previous version of Word documents and other files with only three steps. You just need to scan the hard drive with this program and choose "Unsaved recovery" to restore the unsaved files.