How to Use Text Recovery Converter For Word Documents
- Text Recovery Converter in Microsoft Word helps recover text from corrupted or damaged documents, focusing on text rather than formatting or images.
- To use Text Recovery Converter: open Word, go to File, Open, Browse, select your document, choose "Recover Text from Any File" in the file type, and open the file.
- Alternatives for document recovery include using the "Open and Repair" feature, "Recover Unsaved Documents", and third-party recovery software like Stellar Repair For Word.
We have all experienced the frustration when a Word document you have poured so much time and effort into suddenly gets corrupted. The Word file refuses to open up and starts showing random errors and damaged text blocks, causing frustration and distress.
But don’t worry, we have got you covered. In this guide, we will explore how you can use Microsoft Word’s handy Text Recovery Converter tool to recover your text in a matter of minutes. So, get your documents ready and let’s learn how to use text recovery converter for Word!
Table of Contents
What is Text Recovery Converter?
Text Recovery Converter is a built-in tool in Microsoft Word that allows users to recover text from corrupted or damaged documents. In addition to recovering text, the tool is also used to convert files into other file types such as PDF to HTML or TXT.
The way Text Recovery Converter works is that it extracts text pieces for a damaged document and saves it in a new, editable document. However, the resulting document will be more focused on only recovering important text blocks rather than saving other elements like formatting, images, effects, etc.
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How to Use Text Recovery Converter For Word
When it comes to using the Text Recovery converter feature for Word documents, you don’t need any additional downloads to get things started. Instead, all you need is Microsoft Word and your corrupted file and you are ready for recovery.
Here’s how to use text recovery converter for Word:
- Open up the Microsoft Word software.
- Once that loads up, you’ll need to click on the File option at the top left corner.
- This will open the menu. Here, you’ll need to click on the Open option.
- Next, click on the Browse option to open the file locater.
- Now, select your document and click on the small arrow next to the “Files of Type” box.
- From the menu, select the “Recover Text from Any File” option.
- Finally, click on the open button and after a bit of processing, MS Word will open a new file with all the recovered text displayed on it.
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Alternatives to Recovering Damaged Word Documents
Apart from recovering your text file with Text Recovery Tool, Microsoft Word also provides two other alternatives if your document is still not completely repaired. Let’s break them down.
1. Using Open and Repair
Open and Repair is another built-in tool in MS Word that acts similar to Text Recovery converter but it’s designed to fix minor issues with Word documents.
Here’s how to use the Open and Repair tool to recover Word files:
- Open up MS Word and click on the File button.
- Now, head to the Open section and click on the Browse option.
- From the menu, select your file and click on the arrow next to the “Open” button.
- Here, select the “Open and Repair” option.
Once that’s done, Microsoft Word will attempt to repair the document and restore it to its original format. If the repair is successful, the document will open in Word, and if it’s unsuccessful the error message will pop up again.
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2. Recover Unsaved Documents
Another way to recover corrupted Word documents is by using the Recover Unsaved Documents feature which allows you to open up temporary auto-saves of your recent documents.
Here’s how to use the Recover Unsaved Document feature:
- Launch the MS Word software and click on the File button once it loads up.
- Now, head to the Open tab.
- From here, click on the Recover Unsaved Documents button at the bottom of your documents screen.
- This will take you up to a pre-defined file location where you’ll have a few folders containing your document’s previous revision.
- Now, choose the most recent version and click on Open.
- This will open a recovered version of your document.
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3. Use Recovery Software Tools
Now that we have covered all the available options within the MS Word software, it’s time to look at a third-party alternative for recovering damaged files. Recovery software like Stellar Repair For Word can not only recover texts from corrupted files but also images and even formatting.
Here’s how to use Stellar Repair For Word:
- Open up the Stellar Repair for Word application once you have it installed on your device.
- From the home screen, you’ll need to select your corrupted document.
- Click on the Browse button to open up the file locater and select your file.
- After selecting your file, click on the Scan button to start the recovery process.
- Once the process is finished, a preview of your recovered document will open up on your screen.
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Recovering Corrupted Documents — What’s The Best Method?
If you are stuck between the several methods mentioned above to recover your damaged Word document, you’ll have to consider a few things before settling down to one option. Apart from using a third-party tool, the three built-in methods for MS Word are only for specific cases. Let’s have a quick rundown.
- Text Recovery Converter: This feature is your go-to choice for recovering severe or minor corrupted documents as it’s the most advanced among the three and not only repairs files but also extracts text from them.
- Open and Repair: This feature is not as powerful as Text Recovery Converter as it’s only for minor fixes like files not opening properly. It only attempts to recover the exact document and can’t recover text from it.
- Recover Unsaved Documents: This feature is only for recent corrupted documents and can allow users to open up auto-saves of their document’s previous versions.
All three of these features are designed for a specific purpose and are catered towards different issues. However, if you are attempting to recover severely damaged documents we recommend sticking with Text Recovery Converter or using a third-party recovery tool to even recover other elements like formatting and images.
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Conclusion
In short, recovering damaged documents is a breeze with Microsoft Word’s several built-in tools. If you want to take care of a severely damaged file you can use the Text Recovery Converter feature and if you are looking to fix minor problems you can simply use the Open and Repair tool.
Additionally, you can take advantage of Recover Unsaved Documents to get a hold of previous versions of your recent files or you can download a third-party software to get everything recovered from your document in a few clicks.
FAQs
The Text Recovery Converter is designed to primarily handle Microsoft Word files, such as those in .doc and .docx formats, and can also extract text from files that aren’t specifically document formats.
A Word document can become corrupted for several reasons that can prevent you from opening it such as incorrect document layout and formatting, unreadable characters on the screen, error messages during processing, and more.
Yes, Text Recovery converter is a built-in tool that comes with Microsoft Word which can be purchased on Mac devices as well.