How to Recover Lost Documents in Wordperfect
By Beth Lytle
When a computer or a word processing system crashes, users may lose important information contained in documents that were open. This may be realized upon restarting the computer. Many programs are available as freeware and for purchase online to help you recover lost WordPerfect documents, but there is also a way to recover these documents manually. With a bit of preparation, you should have no problem getting your lost WordPerfect documents back.
Step 1
Reopen the WordPerfect program after the computer has been restarted. When it opens, it should ask you if you want to open the backed-up files; if you were working on more than one WordPerfect document at the same time, it may ask you if you want to open more than one backed-up file. Open all backed-up WordPerfect files. The files will have different names than they originally did when the program was open the first time (WordPerfect will assign a temporary file name to the backed-up files; it will usually start with a "w"). An older version of your saved document may still be available in WordPerfect, but it may not have the changes that were most recently made to the document before the computer or program crashed.
Step 2
Left-click on the pull-down “File” menu at the top of the browser. Choose the “Save as” option from the “File” pull-down menu (or click on the “Save as” button at the top of your browser, if this option is available). Type in the original file name if the file has already been saved into the “File Name” box that pops up; otherwise, type in the file name you would like the old file saved under if it has not been saved.
Step 3
Click the “Save” button after you have typed in the file name; if you already have an older version of the file saved, you will receive a message stating that there is already a file with the same name. Choose the option to replace the existing file with the new file; this will save any updates and changes that were previously lost. Go through these same steps for each recovered WordPerfect document.
References
Warnings
- For files that are thoroughly corrupted or gone, these steps may not work. In those cases, you can try downloading free file recovery software online.
Writer Bio
Based in the Midwest, Beth Lytle has been writing professionally since 2008. Working as an editor and with recent work published on eHow, LiveStrong and the Bayer Aspirin website, Lytle is a self-made freelancer. Lytle writes health-related and home-improvement articles, first beginning her writing journey while attending writing workshops and classes during childhood. Lytle has owned transcription and commercial construction companies since 2006.