How to Recover Deleted Word Documents on a Mac [with 3 Proven Fixes]

Suppose you accidentally deleted important Word documents, don't worry; you can recover deleted Word documents on a Mac in effective ways:

• Fix 1. Recover Deleted Word Documents from the Trash
• Fix 2. Recover Deleted Word Documents Using Software
• Fix 3. Restore Deleted Word Documents with Time Machine

Keep reading to learn the detailed information about each fix, and find the suitable one!

Where the Deleted Word Documents Go on a Mac

The deleted items on a Mac will be moved to the Trash bin and stay there for 30 days before being permanently deleted. However, if you delete an item by control-clicking on it and selecting the "Delete Immediately" option, it will skip moving to the Trash bin process but delete the item forever.

How to Recover Deleted Word Documents on a Mac

In this article, we will tell you how to recover deleted Word documents on a Mac, whether they are in the Trash bin or not. Check out the following three effective fixes.

Fix 1. Recover Deleted Word Documents from the Trash

A quick solution to recover deleted Word documents is to recover them from the Trash bin. Here are the steps:

Step 1. Click the Trash bin icon at the dock to open your Mac Trash folder.

Step 2. Find the deleted Word documents, control-click them, and select the "Put Back" option.

Sometimes, you can't find the deleted files in the Trash folder because you turn on the empty trash automatically on your Mac. In this case, you may permanently lose data. Here is an article discussing how to stop Trash from deleting files.

Fix 2. Recover Deleted Word Documents Using Software

If your Word documents were deleted a month ago, you can't find them in the Trash bin due to the time limit of the Trash folder. In this case, you should use professional and trusted data recovery software EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover deleted Word documents.

This powerful data recovery tool can recover permanently deleted files on Mac, including Word documents, Excel files, PDF files, and more. Besides, it can recover unsaved Word documents on a Mac quickly and safely!

With EaseUS data recovery software, you can recover deleted files on a Mac without Time Machine backups. In addition, it has a user-friendly interface to help users without any data recovery experience can recover their data easily! Here are the steps to refer to:

Note: You can create a backup by clicking the "Disk Backup" on the left first. The software will recover the document from the backup image. It can prevent further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step 1. Scan for lost documents

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages documents were lost and click "Search for lost files".

Step 2. Find lost documents on Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately start a scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane. Select "Documents" and you can quickly filter the DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files you've lost earlier.

Step 3. Recover lost/deleted documents

Select the target files and preview them by double-clicking them. Then, click "Recover" to get lost documents back at once.

Fix 3. Restore Deleted Word Documents with Time Machine

If you have created a Time Machine backup before deleting the Word documents, you can restore Mac from your Time Machine backup. Check out the following steps:

Step 1. Click the Time Machine icon at the top menu, and select the "Browse Time Machine Backups" option.

Step 2. Choose a Time Machine backup by the time and date, and click "Restore" to bring back your deleted Word documents.

Didn't create a Time Machine backup? Don't worry! This article will guide you on how to recover deleted files without Time Machine.

Bonus Tips to Avoid Losing Word Documents

Data loss on your Word documents can be avoided effectively if you pay attention to the following tips:

• Make it a habit to press the save button or use the save shortcut "Command + S" more often when editing Word documents.
• Ensure no important Word documents are in the Trash folder before emptying it.
• Connect to a power source when editing Word documents to prevent the editing part from being lost due to a sudden power failure.
• Run an anti-virus program to prevent Word documents from virus infection, which may cause data loss.

Conclusion

This article introduces 3 effective ways to recover deleted Word documents on a Mac: using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, restoring from the Trash bin, and restoring from a Time Machine backup. We also provide effective tips to avoid data loss on your Word documents in the future.

Recover Deleted Word Documents on a Mac FAQs

Here are questions people frequently ask when they search for how to recover a deleted Word document on a Mac; take a look.

1. Can I recover a Word document I deleted?

You can recover a Word document you deleted within 30 days from your Mac Trash folder using the "Put Back" feature. If the deleted Word document is over 30 days after moving to the Trash, you should install professional data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover it. Or you can contact EaseUS Data Recovery Services and ask data recovery specialists for help.

2. How do I recover a permanently deleted Word document on my Mac?

Here are the steps to recover permanently deleted Word documents on your Mac:

Step 1. Install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and select the Mac hard drive where you deleted Word documents that were stored before.

Step 2. Click "Search for lost files" in the EaseUS software window to display all recoverable files on the Mac hard drive, including the permanently deleted Word documents.

Step 3. Click "Preview" or the eye icon to view the content, and click "Recover" to bring them back.