Word crashed multiple times. Lost documents. How to AutoRecover?

AD 1 Reputation point
2021-01-23T02:04:18.86+00:00

Since installing Big Sur, Word is crashing. Hadn't happened before. It recently crashed twice in two days. The second time, it seems to have deleted all unsaved Word documents. I search 'autorecover' in Finder and they dont show up. All instructions for recovering lost docs that I can find on the web dont seem to apply in Big Sur.

Thank you for your help.

Office Mac
Office Mac
Office: A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.Mac: A family of Apple personal computers that run the macOS operating system.
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  1. Emi Zhang-MSFT 24,986 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-01-25T09:59:00.203+00:00

    Hi @AD ,
    Did you check if Excel have the same problem?
    Since this problem appear in Big Sur, I suggest you try to upgrade Office for Mac to latest version of Office:

    1. Open Word
    2. Make sure internet is connected
    3. Go to the Help menu and choose Check for Updates
    4. Let AutoUpdate check for and install updates

    You can also try to test with safe mode and determine whether background programs are causing the issue:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-use-a-clean-startup-to-determine-whether-background-programs-are-interfering-with-office-for-mac-e99e92b2-f67e-b98d-b69f-d12236c53f2c

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