Head to the autosave directory and open the.Find a field called “ AutoRecover File Location” and note the location of the autosave directory.wbk backup files can be someone hard to find. wbk file name extension, and you can open them just like regular Word documents. Method 1: Locate Word Backup Filesĭepending on if you have the Always create backup copy selected, Word will automatically create backup files of your documents. The good news is that there are several ways how to recover a deleted Word document even if you’ve used the Shift + Delete shortcut, and one of them is so simple that it will take you just a few minutes to learn and use. Before you even realize what’s just happened, the file is gone, and there’s no obvious way how to recover it.Ī scenario like this can be downright nightmarish depending on how important the deleted document was to you. Now, imagine you accidentally selecting the most recent version of the document instead of an older copy you no longer need and hitting Shift + Delete.

Let’s say you’re organizing your working folder and deleting old versions of the document you’ve spent the last few days working on using the Shift + Delete keyboard shortcut, which skips the Recycle Bin and immediately removes files from your system. If you often write, edit, or handle Word documents, you probably have first-hand experience with how painful, and how easy it can be to lose one.

Word 2019 clear recent documents