Where Does Word Store AutoRecover Files?
Word stashes unsaved-document backups as .asd files in a Roaming folder you can read back after a crash.
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Word periodically snapshots open documents to AutoRecover files with .asd extensions, kept in a dedicated folder under Roaming AppData. After a crash, the Document Recovery pane offers these snapshots on next launch, which is the easiest recovery path when it appears.
When the pane does not appear, the files are still on disk. Sort the folder by date and open the newest .asd in Word directly. The exact folder is configurable, so confirm yours under File > Options > Save before a crisis rather than during one.
Where Microsoft Word stores this, by platform
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word
Default AutoRecover location for .asd snapshots. Verify or change it under File > Options > Save > AutoRecover file location.
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery
Mac AutoRecovery folder inside the sandboxed container. Word > Preferences > File Locations shows the exact path on your machine.
Frequently asked questions
Word crashed and shows no recovery pane. Is my work gone?
Not necessarily. Open the AutoRecover folder, sort by date, and open the newest .asd file in Word. Save it immediately under a real name.
How do I change where Word saves AutoRecover files?
Under File > Options > Save on Windows or Word > Preferences > File Locations on Mac. Point it somewhere backed up so snapshots survive even disk trouble.
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