Repair and recover damaged Word files

There are various strategies for repairing and recovering damaged Word files. A basic distinction is made between documents that can still be opened and those that cannot.

Repairing damaged Word files: Standard recovery methods

A damaged document does not necessarily mean the end of your work. There are various methods you can use to repair and restore damaged Word files. This allows you to recover the text, but formatting and other elements such as images are sometimes lost.

• Copy the entire contents of the damaged document into a new document. To do this, select “File” and “Open” and open the damaged document. Place the mouse pointer in front of the first line. Now press the left mouse button and hold it down while dragging the mouse to the end of the document. Release the mouse button. On the “Home” tab, select “Copy” from the “Clipboard” submenu.

• Now create a blank document via “File” and “New.” Then switch back to the “Home” tab and click on the down arrow below “Paste.” Now select the command “Paste Special…” to open the dialog box of the same name. Select “Unformatted Text” and confirm with “OK.”

• Sometimes add-ins also prevent a document from opening correctly. In this case, close Word. To the right of the “Start” button, enter the command “winword.exe /a” in the search field. Word will now load with the default settings, without add-ins. Try to open the document via “File” and “Open.”

• Note: If you start Word without add-ins (“/a”), you also deactivate the global document template (normal.dotm). Furthermore, no autostart macros, registry settings, or third-party add-ins will be loaded. In practice, this means that macros will not work, global formatting (such as company templates) will look different, and add-ins such as a tool that creates a letterhead will be missing.

• Add-in conflicts can occur with third-party add-ins if they contain incorrect formatting or macros. If such an add-in corrupts normal.dotm, the error is inherited. This is because every new document is based on this standard template.

• Word also has a built-in repair program. To use the program, select “File,” then “Open” and “Browse.” In the dialog box, click on the damaged file. In the “Open” drop-down list, select “Open and Repair.”

• If you are using an older version of Word, the command now checks the file structure, repairs damaged sections such as headers/footers, style sheets, tables of contents, and removes or replaces damaged characters, objects, or formatting instructions.

Advanced techniques for repairing damaged Word files that can still be opened

Depending on the environment you are working in, Word uses different methods or techniques to start a repair attempt. In newer versions, the program is supported by AI technologies.

• In newer versions such as Word 2024 or Microsoft 365, the “Open and Repair” feature has been enhanced. Microsoft has increasingly integrated machine learning and AI technologies into recent versions of Office. The command can now intelligently reconstruct complex layouts (e.g., tables with embedded images) and recreate missing or corrupt formatting (e.g., style templates, lists) based on common structures.

• New versions draw on similar “healthy” structures in other sections to supplement lost elements. You can think of it like this: if only one of three tables is faulty, Word can try to intelligently reconstruct its structure based on the other two.

• If the document is stored in OneDrive, Word will use versions in the cloud to retrieve an error-free copy if necessary. In some cases, an earlier version will be restored automatically. Newer versions of Word use telemetry to learn from known errors (especially in Microsoft 365). To do this, Word collects data about malfunctions and sends these reports to Microsoft to improve the software with the next update.

• Errors that you did not cause yourself can occur, especially in the cloud, such as a synchronization failure with OneDrive, SharePoint, or Google Drive. Files are then only partially uploaded or downloaded. Such an interruption can occur, for example, due to an unstable network, when files “get stuck,” or when two users save the same file at the same time.

• If your document crashes while editing or saving, but you can still open it, try saving it in PDF format. To do this, open the damaged file, click on “File,” then “Save As,” and select the storage location. In the “Save As” dialog box, change the “File type” to “PDF (*.pdf)” and save the file.

• This way, you will not lose the document completely. You can still print or share it. However, it is no longer an editable Word document. This method is therefore not a solution for repairing the Word file itself, but a workaround for saving the content.