"The save file is corrupted." Recovering damaged files from a flash drive Free USB flash drive recovery software

Having learned how to format text so that frames and effects do not cause pain in the eyes, the user can calmly do the work he loves. However, one day, as a result of an unplanned shutdown of the computer, a program crash, or other unpleasant factors, a Word file that previously opened perfectly becomes damaged, and it can no longer be opened using standard means. Let's try to figure out how to restore a Word document.

Built-in Word option

The easiest option for recovering a file is to use the “Open and Restore” system function. Its main advantage is its simplicity: a user faced with a message that a document is damaged will not need to install additional software or understand the features of Windows Explorer - everything is as easy and fast as. The main disadvantage is the relatively small percentage of successes: in most cases, the probability of successful recovery is 50–60%.

Important: all the methods listed below only work if the user did not manage to delete the “deleted” Word file - otherwise, you will have to first restore it from the Recycle Bin (or using special software tools).

To restore and open a Word document that cannot be read as a result of damage using the program itself, you should:

Launch MS Word and select “New Document” in the start window - finding the corresponding item will be no more difficult than.

Go to the “File” menu located in the “ribbon” or top panel of Word.

Switch to the “Open” tab and click on the “Browse” button - this method will allow you to work with documents that are damaged using additional program functions.

Find in Explorer the document that you want to restore, select it with the left mouse button and call the drop-down menu of the “Open” button - to do this, you need to click on the triangle located next to the inscription.

In the list that appears, select “Open and Restore.”

And make sure that the Word document that could not be viewed is ready for use again.

If this recovery method does not produce results, you can resort to a related Word option:

In the already known way, go to the “File” menu, select “Browse” and expand the “All Word Documents” sublist in the “Explorer” window.

Select the item “Recover text from any file” in the new list.

And just click on the “Open” button.

Important: in the second case, by opening a damaged Word document, the user may receive an incoherent set of characters; You can really try to fix the situation by changing the encoding - or go to one of the following methods to restore the file.

Automatically saved copy

One of the remarkable features of the most popular text editor, which allows, in particular, the automatic creation of backup copies of open documents at regular intervals. Typically, these copies are deleted at the end of the session, but in the event of an unexpected failure or power outage, there is a high probability that the “draft” will remain on the hard drive.

Important: Since the program creates copies solely based on time, a user who manages to restore a Word document using this method may discover that the edits were missing - however, this is better than completely losing important data.

To restore and open a Word file that was damaged due to a system error or an unscheduled computer shutdown from a backup copy, you will have to:

Open the “Computer” menu and go to drive C. Here, switch to the “View” tab.

Expand the Show or Hide sublist.

And check the two lower checkboxes: “File name extensions” and “Hidden elements”.

Now, without leaving drive C, open the “Users” directories sequentially.

The folder of the account under which the Word document was created and edited.

AppData - this subdirectory is hidden, and a user who neglects to complete the first three points will not advance further.

Roaming.

Microsoft.

And Word.

Here, a computer owner who wants to open a Word document that has been damaged will see a folder with the name of his file.

And opening it - a backup copy with the ASD extension. It can be opened in MS Word by double-clicking on the title.

Or by first changing the extension to DOC/DOCX - this is where the checkbox in the “File name extensions” checkbox comes in handy.

Important: you will have to agree to change the extension; if desired, you can always return it to the original one.

Draft mode

If the Word file is seriously damaged and it is impossible to open it using the previously described methods, you will have to sacrifice a number of data, in particular, attached images. The user will need:

Launch Word, go to the “File” menu, and then go to the “Options” section.

In the window that opens, switch to the “Advanced” tab.

Scroll down the page and, having reached the “Show document contents” section, check the “Show placeholder picture frames” checkbox.

Here, in the “General” section, uncheck the “Automatically update links when opened” checkbox - this will allow Word to access directly the contents of a file that is damaged.

And activate the option “Allow opening the document in draft mode.”

That's all - all you have to do is click “OK” and try to open the Word file again; Usually this recovery method helps better than the first.

R-Word

Couldn't open a Word file using system methods? So, it's time to try software from independent developers. The first of the recommended programs is R-Word, a convenient development distributed in shareware mode that allows you to recover even “hopeless” documents. To use it, you need:

Download (link - r-tt.com), install and run the application, and then call the File menu in the main window.

Select Add documents.

Click on the Browse button.

And indicate in the window the path to the directory containing the Word file, which cannot be opened using standard tools.

In the main window, expand the nested list that appears.

And double-click on the name of the document you want to open.

After a few seconds of waiting, the user will be able to view the contents of the Word file directly in the R-Word window.

Unfortunately, you cannot save the document in demo mode: to be able to click on the floppy disk icon, you must either purchase the application on the developer’s website or use alternative activation methods.

Advice: if after double-clicking on the title of the Word document nothing happens, you should use the Recovery button located next to the “floppy disk”.

Recovery Toolbox for Word

Another shareware program specifically designed for recovering Word files. If a Word document is so damaged that it cannot be opened using standard means, the user can:

Download (link - word.recoverytoolbox.com), install, launch the application and click on the “Explorer” button in the main window.

Find your Word document that you need to restore, select it with the left mouse button and click on the “Open” button.

Next, select the “Analyze” option.

Confirm your desire to begin the recovery process.

And after a couple of seconds, having read the developers’ warning that some of the data in the document may be unrecoverable.

Start studying the open file. Unfortunately, this program also does not allow you to restore a document in the demo version. Ways to remove the restriction were discussed in the previous section; when it is eliminated, the user will only have to click on the “Start recovery” button.

And choose one of the saving options: in Word or a text document suitable for viewing in Notepad.

At the end of the process, you should click on the “Complete” button - or simply close Recovery Toolbox for Word and start working with the successfully recovered Word document.

OfficeRecovery Online

You can also restore a Word file online; For this purpose, there are special paid services that give excellent results. If the data is really important, and you cannot open the document using the previously described methods, you will need:

In any convenient browser, follow the link - online.officerecovery.com and click on the "Browse" button, then specify the path to the Word file.

Use the "Secure Boot and Recovery" button.

And, waiting for the data processing to complete.

Click on the “Get recovered file” link.

On the next page the user can download a free excerpt of the text contained in the document. Don't be upset: files in a few lines are completely restored - and you won't have to pay for access to the “full” version.

Online File Repair Service

To restore a Word file that is damaged and does not allow itself to be opened in normal mode, using the second most popular online service, the user will have to:

Follow the link - onlinefilerepair.com and click on the “Download file and start recovery” button located in the center of the screen.

Using the Select File button, indicate to the service the path to the Word document.

Enter your email address and one-time password in the two lower fields and click on the “Send file for recovery” button.

Click on the link as soon as it appears in the upper right to go to the results.

And view the “trial version” - it will be covered with watermarks and protected from copying, but the user will be able to view their data.

In a few seconds, a letter will be sent to the previously specified email containing a link to the payment form to receive the full version of the document - if desired, the computer owner can click on it and receive his text in its original state.

Previous versions

There is another way to recover a Word document that has been damaged due to a software or hardware failure. If the user is very lucky and has recently created a Windows restore point, in order to be able to open the text again, it is enough to:

Right-click on the damaged file and select “Properties” from the menu.

Switch to the "Previous Versions" tab.

Are there earlier versions in the window that opens? Great, then you can click on the “Restore” button.

And confirm the replacement of the damaged version of the text with the “intact” one.

After a few seconds, the Word file will be successfully restored to the same folder; Now the user can check how badly the edits have been affected - and start working with the document, not forgetting to make backup copies themselves in the future.

Let's sum it up

You can recover a damaged Word file using the “Open and Repair” system options or from an automatically saved copy. Other options are opening in draft mode and using third-party programs and services. In addition, a document that cannot be read after changes should be tried to be converted to an earlier version - this is done in the “Properties” menu.

Need to fix or repair a damaged Word document? It happens that when you open a Word document, you receive an error message saying that the document cannot be read because it is corrupted or due to other problems with the file. Damage to Word documents can be caused by various reasons, but usually you only have to deal with problems with headers in the file, and in this case the data can almost always be recovered in full.

This is what the error message you'll see when Word can't open a document will look like.

"Third Party" Applications

We recommend starting with programs that specialize in recovering files of a certain format, and in this case, Microsoft Office package formats. Since, for example, to restore images, program developers use special algorithms that are not well suited for working with text documents, the quality of restoration in this case can be seriously affected.

We suggest using the RS Office Recovery program, which has proven itself to be one of the most effective tools for recovering Microsoft Office documents. Just download and run the program and scan the disk on which the damaged file was stored.

The program will display all detected documents available for recovery in a separate window. The documents will have original titles. You will be able to view the contents of the documents and then restore the necessary files by simply clicking the “Next” button.

Built-in recovery capabilities

By default, Word offers two possible ways to open a damaged document: Open and restore file or Open with Text Recovery Converter. In addition to these two options, there are other ways to fix the file using only Microsoft resources - all of which are detailed in the support instructions. Be sure to try to open the file using all the suggested methods before moving on to working with third-party tools - often standard tools are indeed sufficient.

In order to test additional file recovery methods, we intentionally "corrupted" a Word document and then attempted to repair it using the various methods described below. We'll share the results for each recovery option.

The standard recovery methods mentioned above can be implemented through the " Open file" Click " File", then " Open", then click once on the file you want to restore. Do not try to open the desired file by simply double-clicking on it, otherwise Windows will try to open it “as usual” and you will once again receive an error message.

Now, instead of clicking on the " Open» Click on the black arrow located on the right side of the button. You will see many additional options, one of which will be Open and Restore. Word will try to repair the damaged document, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to view the file.

In our simple test, Word was able to completely recover a file that contained two pages of plain text. Therefore, always start trying to return files with this method - it works quite well and does not require additional software.

The second built-in feature is the Recovery Converter, which you can also access through the " Open" In the drop-down list " All Word documents» select « Recover text from any file».

Word will try to recover the text from the file. In our case, it failed and we again received a message that the file was corrupt. Depending on the type of damage to the affected files, the results of this option may vary.

If neither of these two methods worked, you can try pasting the damaged document into another Word document. To do this, open a new file and click on the “ Insert».

Click " An object" and then select the option " An object" in the drop-down list. Go to the " Create from file" and click the " Review" Select the damaged Word file and see if you can paste the contents into a new document.

In our test, Word was unable to insert a document into the current file. Instead, a strange error message appeared saying that the program used to create the file, i.e. Word, was not installed on our system! Again, results may vary, so it's worth a try without expecting too much...

Open file via link

The method is a little confusing, but it can be effective; again, everything will depend on the type of damage to the document. So we create a document, add text to it, copy that text, then paste the special text into the new document as a link, and finally update that link to point to the corrupted file rather than the original one. Ugh! Let's start.

First, open a new Word document and type something like “Hey Word,” and then save that document somewhere.

Now select the text you just typed and copy it to the clipboard. You can select it and click CTRL + C or just right click on it and select Copy.

Then create a new Word document using the menu " File» – « New". If you prefer, select a blank document. Now click on the small arrow on the Insert button and select " Special insert» .

Here you need to select " Rich text (RTF)" or " Unformatted text" It doesn't matter what exactly you choose. If you receive any error message when you try to paste a link, close the new document, copy the text, and create a new document again.

The end is near... Right-click on the link text you just pasted into the document, select " Related object Document" and then select " Connections».

Click the button Connections" and go to the directory where the corrupted file is located. Select the file and click " Open» .

Once the link source is updated, click " OK" and hopefully the text from the damaged document will appear in place of the text you copied earlier. In my case, I received an error message and was unable to open the corrupted file. However, my test file was corrupted in several ways and this could be the reason why the text was not recovered. You should still try!

Open in Draft mode

Another thing you can try is to open the file in "draft" mode, which does not take header information etc into account and therefore may open a corrupted file.

To do this, click " File", and then " Options". Click " Additionally" and then scroll down to the " Show Document Contents».

Here, check "Show picture placeholder frames" and "Use draft fonts in draft modes." Now go back to Word, in the "View" section, click " Draft».

Now try opening the damaged file. If it still doesn't open, you'll have to continue exploring other options to fix the corrupted document.

Previous versions

Another option that can help you recover a Word document is previous versions of the files. In Windows 7 and above, System Restore automatically backs up your documents.

Function " System Restore"should be enabled by default. If you have disabled it manually, you will not be able to recover data using this feature. If it is enabled, Windows automatically saves backups quite often, usually at least once a day.

You can check if the required file is backed up on the system by simply right-clicking on it, selecting " Properties", and then going to the " Previous versions" If you do not see such a tab, it means that the “System Restore” option is not enabled.

All previously saved versions will appear in the list below. Obviously, you'll lose any data that was added to the document after the last backup was taken and before the error occurred, but it's still better than nothing.

Have you ever encountered a situation where a .doc or .docx file could not be opened due to an error? Or completely lose a document on which a lot of hard and painstaking work has been done? Probably, most PC users have encountered such a situation, and if not, then an article on this topic will still be interesting for them, since you need to be prepared for anything.

So, let's look at several ways to recover a lost or damaged Microsoft Word file.

How to recover text from a damaged Word document

If the document is damaged, the user may encounter the following error:

If you have checked and ensured that you have permission to access the document and the disk, and are sure that there is enough space and memory on the disk, then the next step is to use the built-in recovery function in Word to get the text of the document back.

For this:

Open Word and select the File / Open / Browse tab

Find the file you want to open and select Recover text from any file from the pop-up menu. Click Open.

Sometimes, despite the recovery process, the file may remain damaged even if the file is successfully restored and opened. Formatting will be lost.

Another way to recover

If the above method does not work, Microsoft has provided another way to recover the Word file. To do this, go to the File / Open tab.

In the window that opens, select your document.

Click the Open button and select the “Open and Repair” option.

If you see the message when opening a document, you should install the latest version of the program.

Restore a backup copy of your Word document

If it is not possible to even find the file, you can try to detect a backup copy of the file created by Microsoft Word. This can be done as follows.

Select File/Open/Browse.

Go to the folder where the lost file was located. In the file type selection window, select “All files (*.*).” Usually the backup file is called “Backup…” + file name. Select and open such a file.

If it was not possible to detect a backup copy of the file in this way, then enter *.wbk (backup file format - Word Backup files) in the Windows search box. But in this case, the names of the backup files will not necessarily match the name of the lost file. Try opening *.wbk files one by one until you find the one you need.

Find and restore an autosaved copy of a file

If your computer is not configured to back up Microsoft Word document files, try restoring the document from AutoSave files.

Autosave files can be checked in the following folder:

C:\Users\ Name User \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word

The name of the autocopy file will begin with “Autocopy...” and will be in *.asd format. Just click on the autocopy of the file and it will open as a Microsoft Word document.

Programs for recovering Microsoft Office documents

If none of the proposed functions brings the desired result, then you can try to recover the lost file from any of the Microsoft Office programs using one of the many programs for recovering deleted documents.

Fortunately, the choice today is huge. The only advice is to choose a simpler program that specializes in recovering files in the Microsoft Office package format. Since different algorithms are often used to recover image files and documents, and accordingly, the quality of recovery can vary significantly.

As an example we can consider Hetman Office Recovery. Already from the name you can understand that the program specializes in recovering Microsoft Office format files. To recover your Word file, simply download and run the program, and use it to scan the disk on which the document was lost.

As a result of scanning, the program will display the found documents with original names. You can view their contents in the preview window. To restore the desired file, just mark it with a checkmark and click the “Next” button.

Have a great day!

If, when you try to open a Microsoft Word document, you receive an error message that the file is damaged or that the file cannot be opened, there are several ways to troubleshoot the problem.

To store Microsoft Word documents, files with the extensions are used .DOC And .DOCX. Older versions of Microsoft Word prior to Office 2007 only use the format .DOC.

The latest versions of Microsoft Word by default use files with the extension .DOCX. This format is compatible with Open Office.

1. Recovery using Microsoft Word

If the file is only partially damaged, then it is more convenient to restore the data it contains using the following algorithm:

Launch Microsoft Word
Open a blank document
Click on the “FILE” button in the upper left corner.
In the menu that appears, select the “Open” option.
Select damaged file on disk
In the drop-down menu of the “Open” button, you must select “Open and Repair”.

Microsoft Word may take a long time to process a damaged file and, as a result, may open a document with recovered data or report that it is impossible to fix the file.

If Microsoft Word is not able to fix a doc/docx file, then you can use special programs or services.

2. Recovery using online services

The most convenient, simple and affordable online service is Online File Repair Service.

This online service can recover more than 10 different file types, including damaged Microsoft Word files. The online service works on all platforms (PC, tablets, phones, etc.) and all operating systems (Windows, iOS, MacOS).

How to recover a Word file online

Restoring a Word file with an online service is a very simple operation, divided into several steps. The user needs:

Select a file on the disk/device;
Type captcha characters;
Enter email;
Click the “Upload file for recovery” button;
If the service was able to recover a Word file, then you can view the contents of the document, pay for file recovery ($5) and download the recovered file.

3. Recovery using programs

If you have a lot of damaged files or if the file contains confidential information, then an online service will not be the best solution. In these cases it is preferable to use a special program, for example Recovery Toolbox for Word. Advantages Recovery Toolbox for Word:

Ease of use
Small program size
Recovery efficiency

How to recover a damaged Word file

To recover a damaged Word file you need to:

Select damaged Word file
Click the “Analyze” button
If the file was successfully recovered, then click the “Start recovery” button and select a method for saving the recovered text:
— export recovered data to Microsoft Word
— save the recovered text to a regular text file

Despite all the apparent simplicity, Recovery Toolbox for Word is an effective document recovery tool that can cope with the most serious damage.

4. Conclusion

Using one of the above methods will most likely give a positive result and allow you to recover data from a damaged Microsoft Word file. You must first use the simplest method (recovery using Microsoft Word), since in most cases this is sufficient.

Often, after a PC emergency shutdown or a virus attack, damaged files appear on the computer. Most often, office documents, pictures and exe files are damaged. But if pictures and installers can be downloaded again, then what about documents that no one else has? How to recover a damaged file and do it as quickly as possible?

What is a corrupted file?

First, let's define the very concept of a damaged file. In essence, this is a regular file, but with a modified internal structure and data. As a result of changes that occurred for various reasons, the file is not suitable for use. Moreover, the damage can be either complete or partial. If a file is completely damaged, it cannot be used further. In case of partial damage, some portion of the data is retained in the file.

Causes of file corruption

There are several reasons why files can become damaged. Most often, disk failures or viruses affecting files occur. An application error can also affect a file opened in the program. For example, a large document is being edited in Word. Due to large volumes, the system cannot cope and crashes the application. After this, you won’t be able to open the file in the usual way, since Word will say that the file is damaged.

Often, an antivirus can “spoil” a file, considering it a virus. There may be many reasons, but there is always one solution.

Methods for document recovery

So, you can restore documents in two ways: MS Office tools and third-party utilities. Both methods do not require material costs. Before purchasing this or that software, make sure that it does not have free analogues.

Recovering a damaged Word file using Office

So, to repair a damaged Word file, you will need OpenOffice or MS Word. Open the Word editor and select the “File >> Open” menu. In a new window, select the damaged file, follow the arrow on the “Open” button and click “Open and Repair”. Thus, MS Word itself will repair the damaged file.

Recovery with Word Repair Free utility

Word Repair Free is a free utility for restoring documents of various formats. Supported files are dot, dotx, rtf, doc, docx. The WPF utility does not require installation. Download it from the Internet and run it.

Click “Repair/Open” at the top and select the damaged file. After scanning and analysis, the program will show what can be recovered. To restore, click on the “Save” button to save the file to disk.

Recovering office documents using OfficeFIX

If you need to repair a damaged Excel or Word file one-time, you can use the OfficeFIX software package. Official website – https://www.cimaware.com/

The package is paid, but it has three useful features compared to other similar paid programs: a 3-month trial period, preview of recovered files, and the ability to save one file to disk. This program restores both text and tables, charts, and images. Alternatively, it is better to use it, and the ability to save is not a problem. No one is stopping you from taking a screenshot from the recovered document and processing it in a special program in order to get the finished text.

What to do if you need to restore a damaged video file? There are special utilities for such video files, among which the most effective is the HD Video Repair Utility program. The official website of the program is http://grauonline.de/cmsimple2_6/en/?Solutions:HD_Video_Repair_Utility, but the disinfected version can also be found on Russian torrents.

The program does not require installation. Open the utility and click on the “Choose movie” button. Select the broken video file and click on “Scan”. In most cases the application will throw an error. No problem, we slip it a normal video file using the “Choose reference movie” button. Click “Scan” again. A new “Repaired” folder will appear in the program folder, which will contain the restored video. Thus, the program “learns” from the example of a “good” file to restore damaged videos.

The process of restoring a damaged file with All Media Fix is shown in the following video:

Restoring damaged files does not take much time. A couple of minutes is enough to download the necessary software and 5-10 minutes to restore a specific file. The main thing is not to panic and be prepared for anything.