Recovering damaged Word 2007 files is a common problem faced by word processor users. Sometimes it happens that documents do not open and unexpectedly appear error messages that say that the files could not be read due to corruption. Word files can be damaged in a variety of ways, but header issues are common. In most cases, you can recover data from a document deleted as a result of a software failure.

A typical error message that a user might receive if the document does not open looks like this: Word 2007 was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt. By default, the program offers 2 possible ways to open damaged documents: Open and Repair the File or Open with Text Recovery Converter. In addition to these 2 options, there are other ways to open the corrupted file that you can try in Word 2010. We recommend that you use all of these options before moving on to third-party programs.

For testing purposes, a Word 2007 document was deliberately damaged and various tools and techniques were tried to fix it. That said, restoring the Word file was not always successful. Unfortunately, there are a limited number of free methods for recovering office text files. Some of them are displayed when you enter the corresponding query in the Google search engine. First of all, you need to consider all the free options, after which you can move on to third-party programs.

Built-in recovery options

Recover the document using the built-in options that you can open through the File Open dialog box. You need to click File and Open, then select the document to be restored. You don't need to click on it 2 times, otherwise Windows will try to open it normally and you will get an error message.

Now, instead of pressing the Open button, you need to select the black arrow located slightly to the right. You will see many additional options, including Open and Repair. Word 2007 will try to repair the damaged document, and if you're lucky, you will eventually be able to view the file. During the test, the program was able to completely recover the file, which contained 2 pages of plain text. First of all, you need to use this function, since it copes well with its tasks and does not require additional software.

Another built-in option is the recovery converter, which is opened through the Open dialog box. In the All Word Documents drop-down list, select Recover Text from Any File. The application will try to recover all characters from the file, even if the program finds it broken. During the test, Word was unable to complete the task because a message appeared stating that the file was corrupted. Depending on the type of damage, restoring text from any Word file can sometimes be effective.

If the above methods did not work, you can try to paste the damaged document, which does not want to open, into another file. To do this, open a new file and click on the Insert tab. Then select Object 2 times, go to the Create from File tab and click the Browse button. You need to select the damaged Word file and see if you can paste its contents into a new document.

During the test, the program was unable to insert the document into the current file. Instead, an error message appeared stating that the application used to create the file was Word, but that program was not installed on the system. However, results may vary and this method is also worth trying.

Recovery via link

This method may seem complicated, but in some cases it can be used to recover data. You need to create a document, enter symbols into it, copy them, insert letters in a new file as a link. It needs to be configured so that it points to the damaged file, not the original one. First you need to open a new Word document, enter any characters and save the file. Then select the characters from the saved document that you just typed and copy them to the clipboard. To do this, you can use the right mouse button to select from the Copy drop-down menu.

Now we need to create a new Word file by choosing File and New. In this case, you can create a blank document, click on the small arrow next to the Paste button and select Paste Special. Here you need to select Paste Link and Formatted Text (RTF) or Unformatted Text. Any of these options are fine. If you get any error message while trying to paste the link, you need to close the new document, copy the symbols and create a new file.

After that, there are several more steps to be taken. You need to right-click on the inserted link text, select Linked Document Object and Links. Click the Change Source button and go to the directory where the damaged file is located. Select a document and click Open. After the link source is updated, click OK. After that, the characters from the damaged document should appear instead of the letters that you copied earlier. During the test, an error message appeared and the corrupted file did not open. But at the same time, the test document was damaged in several ways, so with minor violations of integrity, this method may work.

Draft mode and previous versions

Another technique you can try is to open the text in Draft Mode, which ignores the heading information. To do this, click File and Options, select Advanced, scroll down the page to the Show Document Content section. Check the box next to Show Picture Placeholders and Use Draft Font in the Draft and Outline Views window. Return to Word, click View and Draft in the Document Views section. Now you can try to open the damaged file.

Another option to help you get your MS Office document back is to recover Word documents from a previous version. On Windows 7 and later operating systems, System Restore automatically creates backups every time a new restore point is created. This means that System Restore must be enabled (it is usually enabled by default). If you disable it manually, it will become impossible to recover data. You can check for file backups. To do this, right-click on the file, select Properties and the Previous Versions tab. If there is no such tab, then System Restore is disabled. All previously saved versions will be displayed in the list.

Third-party recovery software

To restore DOC files, you can use only those third-party applications that are able to provide a free demo version, because a situation may arise when the program has already been purchased, but it is not able to cope with the task at hand. Demos usually allow you to see some of the text and tell you if you can restore everything else. Such applications usually support several formats (including RTF). If you feel that the program is capable of solving the problem, then you can buy it. Otherwise, delete it.

Before starting to repair the Word file, the user should make sure that a backup copy of the damaged file is created. It may happen that one program corrupts an RTF or DOCX document, and the second cannot recover the data just because the first application has already made irreversible changes.

If you have a text file created with an older version of the editor, you can use the Repair My Word app for free repair. This is one of the few programs in which you do not need to pay for restoration. Unfortunately, it only works with Word 2003, XP, 2000, 97, 95, 6.0. The application does not accept the new DOCX format, which can open in Word 2007 and newer versions of the editor. If you have a damaged DOC file, it is recommended that you use this old but effective software that is distributed free of charge. To recover DOCX files, the user will have to use paid programs.

There are services on the Internet that offer users of text editors online data recovery. Sometimes it is possible to fix a corrupted Word document online, so do not neglect these web resources. Such services can be found not only on foreign sites, but also in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet. Online file recovery can save you the hassle of downloading paid programs.

Recovering deleted Office files will require special software that is used to find missing files on your hard drive. You should try to return documents that were manually deleted by the user as soon as possible before the corresponding sector has been overwritten on the HDD. It is possible to recover lost content from unsaved text files only if the work of the Word application was terminated incorrectly (for example, as a result of a power outage of the computer). The next time you turn it on, the program will prompt the user to restore the content that was lost.

Unfortunately, even the newest versions of the "Office" do not work correctly from time to time. An error when opening a Word file can occur at the most unexpected moment, even if just a couple of minutes ago you were calmly working with the document. And all would be fine, but what if it contains important and valuable information? Let's consider the possible causes of the problem and how to recover such files.

Why does the error occur?

When you try to open a document, you will see a notification on the screen that the application cannot read the file due to the fact that it is damaged. Let's say right away: this can happen even if you did nothing with the document and worked as usual. Typically, something from this list happens:

1. The document contains a large number of tables, figures and formulas. An error when opening a Word file may occur if, for some reason, the codes of these elements were written incorrectly (in other words, the program cannot understand what should be shown at all).
2. The issues are related to various formatting elements. For example, with those that were created using additional applications and add-ons on another computer.
3. The file was not saved correctly (in the wrong format).

By clicking on the "Details" button, you can get more accurate information - at which point in the document (line and column numbers) there are problems. True, this will not help inexperienced users. Therefore, let's go straight to how you can open a damaged text file.

Document recovery by means of Word

Few people know that Microsoft's text editor itself has a function to fix corrupted files. Therefore, if a Word error occurs when trying to open a file, first of all it is worth trying to restore the document using standard means. What do I need to do?

1. Close the error message window.
2. Launch "Word" from the "Start" menu or by using a shortcut on the desktop.
3. Go to the menu File> Open and find through the "Explorer" the document that you want to restore. Please note that you do not need to open it!
4. Highlight the file.
5. Find at the bottom of the window, next to the "Open" button, an arrow button.
6. A drop-down list will appear on the screen. In this case, we are interested in the "Open and Restore" item.

Now, if all is well, the document will open and display in standard mode.

An important caveat: you will also see a message on the screen stating that some changes were made to the content during the recovery process. By clicking on the "Show fixes" button, you will see a list of changed items. Be sure to check what the program has fixed so that you can manually correct the file later.

Recovering with a backup converter

It's great if you have this little utility installed on your computer. This means that when the document is stored in memory, it is also backed up. And now we will try to extract the undamaged version of the document:

1. Launch the editor from the start menu.
2. Select from the menu File> Open.
3. At the bottom of the window that opens, there will be a list of "File types" (to the left of the "Cancel" button). Click on the arrow and open a list of all options.
4. If the converter is installed, you will see the line "Recover text from any file (*. *)".
5. Select this option and try opening the required file again.

If the error disappears when opening the Word 2003 file (or another version), the document will open. However, the next time you start it, you might see the message "The table in the document is damaged." To fix this, you need to select the problem fragment, and then select from the menu Table> Convert> Table to Text.

If you still get errors after doing this, check all the tables in the document to see if there are any cells or rows that contain too much text. Also, problems can arise if an incomplete table is present in the document.

Change Protected View settings

Let's consider one more option. It may work if the program does not open the Word file that was downloaded from the Internet. The system automatically blocks the launch of documents that it considers potentially dangerous. You can disable protection in the following way:

1. Start "Word" and go to the menu File> Options.
2. In the window that appears, the main tabs are located on the left. We need a "Trust Center" section.
3. In the "Center" go to the "Protected View" tab.
4. Uncheck the boxes from all the boxes responsible for opening documents in restricted mode.
5. Save changes, restart the program and try to open the file again.

You need to use this method with caution, and only if you are 100% sure that the file is safe.

Removing Microsoft Word add-ins

Sometimes the problem is not related to a specific document, but to the program in general. In practice, an error when opening a Word file often occurs due to installed add-ins. In this case, the message "Program terminated" is displayed on the screen.

Our task is to disable all add-ons, including the one that causes errors. For this you need:

1. Launch MS Word. Most likely, there will be a message on the screen stating that a serious error occurred during the last launch, and the program will offer to start the editor in safe mode. Click "OK".
2. Go to the menu File> Options.
3. Go to the "Add-ins" tab.
4. At the bottom of the window, you will see the words "Manage: COM Add-ins". Click on the "Go to ..." button next to it.
5. In the window that appears, check the boxes next to all add-ons, then click "Delete" and confirm the action.

After that, you need to close the program and try to open the problem document again.

Format recovery

In many cases, the error when opening a Word 2003-2013 file is related to incorrect saving. To open the document, you have to restore the correct format.

Let's try to transfer working information into a new, undamaged document:

1. Create a new blank file in Word and save it.
2. Close the program and go to "Explorer".
3. Find the created file and turn it into an archive by changing the extension (for this you just need to rename the document and enter .zip instead of.doc).
4. Do the same with the file you want to recover.
5. Open documents with any archiver.
6. Extract the "word" folder from the damaged document and copy it to the archive with a new document, replacing all files.
7. Rename the file from .zip to .doc or .docx back.

Now try to open your document in Word. The program will display a message stating that it is damaged and will offer to restore it. After that, the screen will display the contents of your file.

Manual code editing

Immediately, we note that this option is suitable only for advanced users, at least with basic knowledge of HTML. When Word gets an error while trying to open a file, the message about it always contains information about which part of the document the problem is (line and column number). That is, if you get into the file's code, you can find and correct or delete this fragment. How to do it?

1. Open the document as an archive (see the previous point).
2. Find and extract
3. Open the document in Notepad or Notepad ++. It is desirable for a text editor to keep track of the cursor position - showing row and column numbers.
4. Find the snippet that is causing the error and edit it.
5. Upload the updated document.xml to the archive instead of the old file. After that, open the document in Word.

It is important to understand the essence of the problem here. Most often this is the wrong order of tags in the code. As a last resort, you can delete some of the text.

Recovering a document using Word Recovery

In addition to Office tools, you can use special programs to fix text files. They use their own algorithms to extract information, so they can often cope with the task much better than standard tools. The most popular applications of this type are R-Word and Magic Word Recovery.

Before proceeding to fix the "broken" file, be sure to make a copy of it.

If you cannot recover the document in its native format (.doc or .docx), first try saving it as .rtf.

Sometimes, when restoring a table, a warning appears on the screen that the computer is out of memory. In this case, you need to close all programs, folders and files, except for the "Word" itself.

But what about those users whose document has been damaged due to certain circumstances? In this article, I will look at what damage options are, as well as how to recover a damaged Word file.

What are the types of damage?

Damaged Word documents behave unexpectedly. This can be caused by damage to the document itself or the template, which is taken as the basis for all other types of documents. Damage manifests itself in the following forms:

1. Broken page numbering of the document.
2. Repair page breaks in a document.
3. When opened, the document displays unreadable characters.
4. Incorrect formatting and structure.
5. PC freezes after launching the file.
6. Critical application termination when trying to open content, or other unexpected behavior.

Advice! Unexpected document behavior may be due to other factors, such as damage to the Word program itself or Microsoft Office utilities, opening the document with an earlier version of Word, or virus infection of the operating system. To verify otherwise, check how Word works with other documents.

Recovering a Word file

The damaged document may or may not open. We will build on this. As an example, I'll be using the Word 2016 trial that is included with Office 365 Home.

Advice! If one of the methods did not help, proceed in order to the next.

If the document opens

Work with the document and template settings. I will consider solving the problem in stages. If the error is not a single one and occurs in every created file, read this first.

Force recovery

Try to forcibly repair the damaged file:

If it doesn't work, restart your PC and proceed to the next step.

Double conversion

Let's convert the file to a different format, and then return to the previous state:

1. Go to "Word" → Open → Browse → select the damaged file and click "Open".
   
2. Click File → Save As → Select the type of file you want to save as RTF Type (.rtf).
   
3. Close the file and open it again. Similarly, convert it back to Word Document (.docx).
   

Advice! If the problem persists, you can try converting to other formats. When converting to text format .txt, all pictures, diagrams and formatting are lost. Remember this.

Copy to a new document

Select the contents of the file, except for the last paragraph, and copy to another document. If your document has section breaks, copy the text between the breaks. To avoid inserting breaks when copying text, enable Draft mode for the new document:

Removing damaged content

For cropped documents that do not display all of the content, you can switch to another mode and delete the corrupted data. Determine the page where the file is being clipped and remember the content of that page. Then:

1. Switch to Draft or Web Document mode.
2. Scroll through the content until it is clipped.
3. Select and delete the next paragraph or object.
4. Switch back to layout mode and check if the document is displayed in full.
5. Delete content in this way until it is fully displayed in Page Layout mode.
6. After the done manipulations, save the document.

Changing the template

Relevant if you switched to a new version of Microsoft Office, and all old documents are damaged. First, determine which template is being used:

1. Open Word, on the File menu, click Options.
   
2. Select "Add-ins", at the bottom in "Manage" select "Word Add-ins" and click "Go."
   
3. If “Normal” is displayed in the “Document Template” field, follow the instructions further, if another template, go to step 9.
   
4. Close Word to rename the template.
5. Go to Explorer and in the line write the command:% userprofile% \ appdata \ roaming \ microsoft \ Templates

   If the document does not open

   When the document throws an error when opening directly, try to open it using built-in Word capabilities.

   Opening with Draft Mode

   First, start Word:

   1. Go to "File" - "Options".
   2. Open "Advanced", go to the section "Show document content" and check the box next to "Show replacement picture frames."
      
   3. Go down further into the General section. Check the box next to "Allow document opening in draft mode".
      
   4. Apply the change and click OK.
   5. Restart Word, choose File → Open, and run the damaged file.

   Using the converter

   When using a converter:

   • document formatting is not preserved;
   • pictures, diagrams and other graphic elements are not saved.

   Go to Word and open the damaged file using "Recover text from any file", as shown in the figure below.
   

   Recovery using third-party services

   There is an online service online.officerecovery.com. You can use it to try to recover files:

   1. Upload the damaged file to the site.
   2. Wait while the file is processed and downloaded to your PC.
   3. Check the functionality of the document.

   Another program is called RecoveryToolboxforWord. The principle of use is similar.

   If you have any questions while reading the article, ask them in the comments. Also use to contact the administration.

On a PC, not paying attention to warnings that at some point, for various reasons, a failure may be triggered, as a result of which the operating system or software will crash. The file may also be damaged, and you will not be able to open it again.

Surely many have come across a situation when an important document was created using the Microsoft Word office application, but when it became necessary to open it, a message appeared in front of the user, informing that the file was damaged and could not be opened. If a lot of effort is expended on the creation and it is of any value, such a message can provoke a heart attack.

In order to protect your health and not worry once again when such a notification occurs, it is better to read the recommendations on how to open a damaged Word file.

The developers of Microsoft Office software, anticipating such emergencies, have taken care of methods for recovering damaged files. In this regard, it is initially important to figure out how to recover a damaged Word file without resorting to the use of third-party tools or software.

Functionality of Microsoft Word

If a document typed in Microsoft Word has been slightly modified, as a result of which it has ceased to open correctly, you can easily restore it and resume work with it using the capabilities of the office application itself.

To do this, first open a new document. Further, in the top menu bar, you need to move the mouse cursor over the "File" group, the context menu will immediately open, in the list of which you need to find the line "Open". Now a selection window appears, in which you should specify the path where the damaged document is saved.

Typically, the user clicked on the button that led to the opening of the document. In this case, you should open the list of additional features by clicking on the drop-down menu. This is where you can easily find the "Open and Restore" prompt. If, indeed, the document has not undergone catastrophic changes, the office application will be able to easily revive it.

Even if such attempts are unsuccessful, one should not despair, since there are other options for recovering documents.

Recovery using third-party software

If it is impossible to open an important document through an office application, there are other ways to achieve the designated goal. Experienced users offer valuable advice on how to recover a damaged Word document using special software or service resources.

Potential of online services

On the wide open spaces of the Internet, it is easy to find many services that offer effective assistance in case of serious damage to documents, when the office application itself could not fix the problem.

One of these services is online.officerecovery.com. The resource is absolutely clear, so even a beginner will find it easy to figure it out.

After entering the site, you should initially select a document, indicating the path where it is saved on your PC. When opening it, it is important to take into account that if the document is accompanied by a set password, it must be entered into a special window, otherwise all attempts made will simply be unsuccessful.

After that, it remains to click on the "Safe" button. The process is short, it takes about two minutes. Upon completion, the user will be shown a small piece of the recovered document. If it is unreadable, it means that it has been so damaged that it is difficult to restore it even with powerful resources. If all is well, you can request the full text of the document. Unfortunately, this resource is paid, so you have to pay for the services. Many users agree, especially in cases where the file is of great value.

This online service is not the only one, there are many others, some of which are free.

Special software

You can also download special programs that are endowed with the functions of recovering damaged documents. Among them is Recovery Toolbox for Word. The program is easy to use, does not take up much space on the hard disk, therefore it can be used on "weak" machines.

After starting the program, the user must again indicate the place where the document is saved, which is important to restore. Next, the program conducts an analysis, after which it immediately starts the recovery process.

Recovery Toolbox for Word is a powerful tool with which it is possible to reanimate even seriously damaged documents.

So, there are several ways to fix the problem related to the inability to open any document created in Word. If the file is of value, it is important to try all the methods, including the finishes and paid resources.

Business solutions

If using the online recovery service is not possible, you can download one of the following utilities:

In addition to the ability to recover information at home, they also provide unlimited options for recovering a large number of files, professional support and many other options useful to corporate users.

Video Tutorial for OfficeRecovery Online Service

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About OfficeRecovery for Word Online

OfficeRecovery for Word Online recovers corrupted Word documents (.doc, .docx, .docm, .rtf).

Supported Word versions:
2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, 97, 95, 6.0 and Word for Mac 5.0

The recovered data is saved into a new Word document.

After the file recovery is finished, you can evaluate the demo results and register for free results or purchase them immediately. If the file could not be restored, you can order its analysis by our experienced team of specialists.

Examples of using

MS Word file repair service can be used in situations when Word file cannot be opened in Microsoft Word and you see errors or warnings while opening.

In order to quickly recover a damaged doc, docx or rtf file, upload a word document to our cloud recovery service using the form on this page.

It is important to note that if the recovery process is successful, you will receive a ready-to-use Word document as a result. You can get fully repaired file by selecting free or paid option.

Standard features:

• Support for files of all modern versions, including 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000 and 97
• Basic Word Recovery Support for Macintosh Files
• RTF (rich text format) support
• Repair text and formatting
• Rebuild tables
• Rebuild bulleted lists
• Recover embedded graphics (pictures are placed at the end of the recovered document)
• Restore charts and drawing objects
• Recover headings and footnotes
• Recover fields from url
• Repair OLE objects
• The following OLE objects are restored for Word 2007 and 2010:
  • Package
  • Bitmap images
  • Microsoft Equation 3.0
  • Microsoft Graph Chart
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 97-2003 Slide
  • Microsoft Visio Drawing
  • Microsoft Works Spreadsheet
  • Objects of any OpenDocument type
  • WordPad documents
• Formatting is restored according to styles, headings and footnotes, fields and bookmarks are restored
• Password-protected files are recovered if the password is known (Word 2003, 2002, 2000 and 97 documents only)

OfficeRecovery for Word Online File Repair Description

Corrupted word documents are files that suddenly become unusable and cannot be opened with Microsoft Word. There are a number of reasons why a word file might be damaged. And in some cases it is possible to fix and restore a damaged doc (Word 2003, 2000, 97, 95, 6.0), docx (Word 2007, 2010), rtf file.

If your doc, docx or rtf document has accidentally become corrupt / inaccessible for opening with the original software, don't lose heart! You no longer need to buy expensive software to repair just one corrupted word file. OfficeRecovery for Word Online brings you a brand new online service that will help you instantly recover corrupted word document. All you need to do is simply download the damaged doc, docx or rtf file using the browser, evaluate the quality of the demo recovery results and choose the solution that suits you best.

OfficeRecovery Online for Word supports Microsoft Word 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, 97, 95, 6.0 and Word for Mac. The recovered data is saved in rtf format.

OfficeRecovery for Word Online offers free / gratuit and paid options to get full recovery results. The free option assumes that full results can be received absolutely free of charge within 14-28 days. All you have to do is simply subscribe to free results after the word file recovery process is finished. If you need to get the repaired doc, docx or rtf file right now, instantly you just need to choose the paid option instead of the free one.

What if no data to recover detected in your word file? You can order a non-refundable analysis of your file by our experienced technical team. In some cases, data recovery is only possible manually.