Help! Deleted Documents by Mistake

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rachel
  • Start date Start date
R

Rachel

I was cleaning my documents folder and deleted a document
by mistake. Then I emptied my recycle bin. Is there any
way to get the document back?
 
Hi, Rachel,

The answer is "probably not". If you had "Always make backup copy" checked
in the Tools > Options > Save dialog, look for a file named something like
"Backup of xyz.wbk" in the same folder as the document. If you have a
separate backup of your hard drive, or even just the documents folder, look
there. Otherwise... you've learned the hard way why you should do both of
those things.
 
There are (used to be, anyway) disk utilities - Norton was one - that could
sometimes recover deleted files from a hard disk: deleting a file removes
only the file header, marking the disk segments as free for re-use without
actually clearing the segments themselves. Success depends on how much work
has been done on your hard disk since the deletion.
 
That presumes the deleted file is worth at least $70 (the cost of the key
that lets you save the file, not just look at it). Some documents are worth
that, most are not.
 
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