According to Microsoft, users may be able to recover lost office files from temporary files. But if you do not have enough technical background knowledge and experiences, it is very likely to make mistakes, which may reduce the chance of successful recovery. So if you are not an IT expert, we suggest you use Office recovery software directly to avoid permanent loss of your office file.
Here are the simplest solutions to recover different office files from temporary files. Wish you a good luck and succeed on your first try.
Word Recovery from Temporary Files Step 1: Show hidden files (How-tos ) Step 2: Find out temporary files Temporary files may locate in one of these folders
Windows XP: 1) "C:\ Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Word"
2) "C:\ Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp"
Windows 7 and above "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Word"
"C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word"
"C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp"
After getting into the right location, look for the following file types ( "xxxx" is a random number):
• A word document file will look like ~wrdxxxx.tmp
• A temp document file will look like ~wrfxxxx.tmp
• A temporary file for AutoRecovery will look like ~wraxxxx.tmp
• An AutoRecovery file will look like AutoRecovery save of
.asd • An AutoRecovery file that is complete will have the extension of .wbk (AutoRecovery files may not locate in temp folders, and you can search for "*.wbk" files in all folders)Description of how Word creates temporary files from Microsoft Step 3: Open temporary files Copy these temporary files to a new directory in another drive, and open them one by one in Word. For other recovery solutions, please refer to Microsoft support: How to recover a lost Word document Excel Recovery from Temporary Files Step 1: Show hidden files (How-tos ) Step 2: Find out temporary files Temporary files may locate in one of these foldersWindows XP: "C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp" "C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel"Windows 7 and above "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp" "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel" • An excel temp file is saved as “xxx.tmp” or “~dfxxxx.tmp” ("xxxx" is a number). • An AutoRecovery file will look like xxx.xlb
Step 3: Open temporary files Copy these temporary files to a new directory in another drive, and open them one by one in Excel.PowerPoint Recovery from Temporary Files Step 1: Show hidden files (How-tos ) Step 2: Find out temporary files Temporary files may locate in these foldersWindows XP: "C :\ Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp"Windows 7 and above "C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp" The temp files are saved as “pptxxx.tmp”, where "xxx" represents a random number automatically generated by PowerPoint
Step 3: Open temporary files Copy these temporary files to a new directory in another drive, and open them one by one in PowerPoint. Suggested Article from The Microsoft Knowledge Base:PPT97: How to Recover an Unsaved Presentation from a .tmp File NOTE: 1. There is no guarantee that the temp file is a good copy of the unsaved file. 2. If the temp file can not be opened, then the file cannot be recovered in this way. 3. The location of autosave files depends on the settings of your MS Office. You can view and set the location in "File Tab - Options - Save - AutoRecover File location"