How to recover deleted text in a Word file?

It’s frustrating to see all your efforts go in vain after you spent some time typing text in a Word file, and your text got suddenly deleted. If this ever happens to you, and you are looking for a solution, you have come to the right place. In this article, you will learn how to recover deleted text in a Word document with ease. Let’s dive into the topic!

What you need to get started

If you have ever faced the text deletion problem, there are several ways to recover deleted text in a Word file. Let’s find out how they work using ONLYOFFICE Document Editor as an example. This text editor is fully compatible with the DOCX format, which allows you to edit any Word file both online and offline.

Way 1: reverse your last action

The easiest method is to reverse your last action if you accidentally deleted something and want it back. You can do it by pressing CTRL+Z on your keyboard. This shortcut will allow you to recover your deleted text and undo other actions if necessary. If you press this shortcut several times, you can reverse more than one action.

Alternatively, you can access the Undo button on the top toolbar. Find it at the top left corner of your Word document and click it to recover the deleted text.

The Undo feature is available on both the online and desktop versions of ONLYOFFICE Document Editor.

Please note that this method works if you deleted something in an opened Word file. If you close your file and open it again, the Undo feature won’t help you to recover the deleted text.

Way 2: recover your Word file after a sudden system crash

If you use the desktop version of the ONLYOFFICE suite for Linux, Windows and macOS to edit Word files, a sudden app crash or a system shutdown might occur. Fortunately, there is an autorecover feature that will help you to restore what you didn’t manage to save.

When you create or open a document in ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, a copy of the Word file is created in the recovery folder and automatically updated after you finish editing. If the app closes unexpectedly when you are editing, you can launch the app again and recover your file in the Recent files section. This way you can easily recover the text that was deleted due to the app crash or system shutdown.

Read this guide to learn more about how to recover unsaved Word documents.

Way 3: use the Version History feature

Version 8.2 brings a lot of useful improvements, and one of them is the updated Version History feature in ONLYOFFICE Document Editor. Starting from now, you can access the version history of your Word document and check the corresponding option to see the deleted pieces of text.

With the Highlight deleted option in Version History, you can easily see what was deleted in your Word file and recover one of the previous versions to get the deleted text back.

To use this feature, access the File tab, click Version History and activate the Highlight deleted option. Alternatively, you can access this feature via the Collaboration tab on the top toolbar.

You will see all the versions of your Word document, and all the deleted pieces of text will be highlighted. You can browse the versions and restore the one you need by activating the Restore option.

This method is useful when you collaboratively work on a Word file with other people. It allows you to see all changes made by others, including text deletion.

How to avoid accidentally deleting text and then having to restore it?

When you work on a Word document, what you type might get deleted for various reasons. To avoid this, follow these simple pieces of advice:

• Don’t lose your concentration. When you type for hours trying to meet the deadline for your new project, you can easily lose your concentration for a second and accidentally press the Backspace or Delete button, which may result in deleting a part of your text. That’s why it might be a good idea to have regular breaks when sitting in front of the computer.
• Don’t be afraid to communicate. When you co-edit a Word document with your colleagues or friends in real time, they can delete your text if they have editing permissions. This might happen when you are offline making it difficult to detect what was deleted and who was responsible for it. Communicate with your co-authors and agree about what needs editing in your document and what doesn’t.
• Monitor your PC performance. If you edit a Word file on an old laptop or your operating system hasn’t been updated for a long time, don’t be surprised if your work gets interrupted by a sudden system crash. In this case, you might lose the text that hasn’t been saved. Regularly check the performance and health of your PC or laptop and install available updates. Also, you can check your OS for viruses to prevent sudden system restarts and lags.
• Keep your formatting simple. Advanced formatting rules can make it difficult to edit text in Word documents and even delete random pieces of text. Apply simple formatting rules and work with unformatted text.

Get ONLYOFFICE Document Editor

Create, edit and collaborate on Word documents by creating a free ONLYOFFICE DocSpace account or work on DOCX files locally by downloading and installing the free desktop app for your Windows, Linux or macOS:

START IN THE CLOUD       GET DESKTOP APP

Watch this video and learn more about the updated Version History feature in version 8.2 and other useful improvements: