Taking a backup of a Word file on your computer can be done in a variety of ways, depending on whether you have previously set up autosave or created a backup manually. Here are some common ways to get back or create a backup of a Word document:
Microsoft Word has an auto-recovery feature that saves a temporary copy of the current document at regular intervals. If Word or your computer shuts down unexpectedly, you can look for the automatically recovered document the next time you start Word.
Open Word, and it will usually automatically prompt you to recover unsaved documents.
You can also check manually: go to File> Info> Manage Documents> Recover Unsaved Documents.
If the auto-recovery prompt does not appear, you can go directly to the default auto-save folder of Word to find it. The path may vary depending on the version of the operating system and the version of Office, but it is usually located at:
Windows: C: Users [your username] AppData Local Microsoft Office uns**edfiles
macOS: Users [your username] Library Containers commicrosoft.word/data/library/preferences/autorecovery
If your operating system supports File History (Windows) or Time Machine (macOS) and this feature is turned on, you may be able to retrieve previous versions of Word documents from them.
Windows: Open File History in Control Panel to find and recover files.
macOS: Using Time Machine, browse to the location where your document was saved, find and recover files.
If you have the habit of manually setting up document backup in Word, or use third-party backup software, check the backup location you specified.
If you use a cloud storage service like OneDrive or Google Drive, and you have folder sync set up, you may find backups of your documents in the cloud.
Log in to the corresponding cloud service** and check the folder you are syncing.
If you emailed the document, try to find it in your mailbox's Send or Receive folder.
In order to prevent future data loss, it is recommended to turn on Word's auto-save function, manually save documents regularly, and consider using a cloud storage service to automatically sync and back up files. In addition, it is also a good habit to create local or cloud backups of important files on a regular basis.