How To Go Back To A Previous Version Of A Word Document?

[shivvy]

I was changing some text in a saved word document. I planned to save it as a new and seperate document however I accidentally saved it so that it replaced the original document.
Can I get back to the version before I saved the changes?
Thanks

[Buenchico]

If you were working on the document for a while, Word will have probably been saving temporary copies of it as you went along. You might be lucky and find that there's still a copy of the original file somewhere:
http://office-recovery.com/word.asp

[Buenchico]

PS: Having made the same mistake myself a few times, if I'm going to (say) modify an existing letter to send to someone else, I've now got into the habit of opening the old document and IMMEDIATELY saving it under a new name (via File > Save As) even though the content hasn't yet been changed. From then on I'll be working with a document under the new name, so 'Save' will always change the new file, not the old one.

If you know that you'll regularly be starting from the same document though, simply save it as a template (File > Save As > Word Template). It can then be opened just like any other Word document but if you later go to 'Save' you'll be prompted to give your amended file a new name.

[shivvy]

I usually do save it that way Buenchico - so I'm angry at myself!

Thanks for the link but I'm not great with computers and can't find the C:\Documents and settings.
I go into Start, then Computer, then Windows(C:) but I don't see an option for Documents and Settings.

[Buenchico]

Which version of Windows are you using?

[shivvy]

I'm using Windows 7.

[Buenchico]

Click the Start button.

You should see your Windows username at the top right of the panel which opens. Click on it.

You're now looking for a folder called AppData but you probably can't see it yet. Assuming that you can't, go to Organize (top left), then 'Folder and Search Options'. Click the View tab. Click on the button next to 'Show hidden files, folders and drives'. Click Apply and then OK.

Double-click on AppData.

Double-click on Local.

Double-click on Temp to see if there are any temporary Word files in there.
If not, return to Local and double-click on Microsoft to see if there's a Word subfolder in there. (If so, double-click on it to view its contents).

(When you've finished poking about you might want to go back to Organize (etc) to hide hidden files again. If you don't you could find that everything is rather cluttered whenever you search for something!)

[shivvy]

Wow Buenchico what a brilliant walkthrough answer - thank you!
However I don't see the document. That said, the first place (Local, Temp) has hundreds of things listed in it and maybe I just cant find it.