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Whenever I try to open a certain document on Microsoft word it keeps saying it is unable to find the document. How do I find it? RRS feed

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    I typed a 10 page paper. And when I went to submit it to my class online the document was grey and it had no information and it wouldn't let me open it; like it was corrupted. When I do click on it, it says that Microsoft Word is unable to find my document. When I click would you like to locate it yourself, it brings me to all my documents but it is no where to be found on my computer. How do I retrieve it? 
    Thursday, September 18, 2014 7:51 PM

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    If you created or edited the document on a USB drive and didn't eject the drive via the safe removal process, it's quite possible you corrupted it. Such documents are rarely recoverable (don't be taken in by the recovery-software spruikers who'll probably soon latch onto this thread). You'll need to reload the document from an known good backup (failing that, from an email copy if you have one). Similarly, if you opened the document from an email attachment, your edits will only be saved to a temporary file that gets deleted when you exit the email program - you need to save the attachment to a user folder before editing.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Friday, September 19, 2014 5:34 AM

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    If you created or edited the document on a USB drive and didn't eject the drive via the safe removal process, it's quite possible you corrupted it. Such documents are rarely recoverable (don't be taken in by the recovery-software spruikers who'll probably soon latch onto this thread). You'll need to reload the document from an known good backup (failing that, from an email copy if you have one). Similarly, if you opened the document from an email attachment, your edits will only be saved to a temporary file that gets deleted when you exit the email program - you need to save the attachment to a user folder before editing.

    Cheers
    Paul Edstein
    [MS MVP - Word]

    Friday, September 19, 2014 5:34 AM
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    Hi Jessica,

    From where did you open the file for editing originally? Have you saved it properly before you submit it?

    As Paul mentioned above, in some cases, corrupted documents are rarely recoverable. Do you have a backup of that file? Or elaborate a little bit about your situation for further assistance.

    Regards,

    Ethan Hua
    TechNet Community Support

    It's recommended to download and install Configuration Analyzer Tool (OffCAT), which is developed by Microsoft Support teams. Once the tool is installed, you can run it at any time to scan for hundreds of known issues in Office programs.

    Friday, September 19, 2014 6:45 AM