Help! I just deleted my work!!

What program are you using? I know Word 2010 saves versions of the file and you can access that in the 'file' menu (I think... I haven't played with it enough at work to figure it out). If you deleted the documents from the directory, check the recycle bin. If you accidentally did a ctrl+A (select all) and then deleted it all, a ctrl+Z (undo) will work if you haven't saved the document.

Which version of Word are you using?

Have you looked for a file with a .wbk extension in the folder? Or done a search for all files with a .wbk extension?

Have you tried closing down Word and bringing it back up to see if it automatically gives you a list of files to choose?

Did you look in the AutoRecover files? The most recent automatic save should be there.

Here's the full instructions for recovering a file (which may or may not help, depending on exactly what you did).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827099/en-us

First, calm down just a little, then slowly read through the instructions.

I've used Handy Recovery on a number of occasions for stuff like this.

http://www.handyrecovery.com/download.shtml
(They have a free trial.)

As always, YMMV, but it has worked for me.

This is why I save and work from the clouds...Dropbox.

As Williebee said... do a search on "undelete" and see if you can find a utility out there.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm

3500 words. That's my record for MS Word being unable to recover from my stupidity. In the middle of a CUT and paste from one Word doc to another. Brrrrring!

"Hello?... Oh, yeah, I've got a spreadsheet with that. Here, let me copy and paste the data into an email."
Select, CTRL+C... wait... didn't I...?

Bad words, bad words, bad words.

Double-check your auto-save settings. It sounds like it may already be too late. But you MIGHT be able to find a version of your document. But I suspect the link you've already received led you there.

mccardey said:

I can't believe I just did that

I'm too stupid to live. And so's my computer.

Click to expand...

(cue taps)

There were a bunch of other smilies that could have worked for this situation, but I decided to take the melodramatic route.

mccardey said:

I so want that smilie!!! I have a million uses for it!! Where is it? Give it to me!!

Click to expand...

It's on AW. And in the Smilie List.

That's e2salute, with a preceding and following :

If it's any consolation (#1), this has happened to nearly all of us at one time or another. After a while you get in the habit of frequently hitting control-S. Oh, and emailing your manuscript to yourself in case you have a hard disk crash. It is said that there are two types of people in this world - those who have had a hard disk crash and those who are about to.

If it is any consolation (#2), I often find that when I rewrite something that I've lost this way, the second version can come out better than the first. It is as if the period spent in my memory and not on the page has magically polished it. Made it leaner. More fit for purpose. Zingier.

You may find that it is quicker to rewrite it than to worry about recovering it. And it's a more zen and positive way to look at it. What you don't want to do is worry about that lost fragment. If it's gone, it's gone. Don't look back.

In the immortal words of South Pacific "I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair ..."