Quick Method: How to Recover Microsoft Project Files

Recently I was shocked when I got the following message from one Microsoft user: “I spent four hours working on Project 2016 before the program locked up and froze. Is there a way to recover my file?” Believe me, this is the most unfortunate situation if your hard work just wiped up suddenly.

I have personally experienced this quite a few times, and while there isn’t a simple fix, it doesn’t imply you can’t retrieve your Microsoft data. In this article, I am going to tell you how to recover Microsoft project files without using any external tools.

The most frequent cause of unsaved Microsoft project files is unexpected power outages, which are beyond your control. Nevertheless, with a little caution, you may preserve your files as will be described below. Other reasons could be mistakenly closing the project file or Word file, glitches on the computer, etc.

How to Recover Unsaved Microsoft Project Files

The good news is that after thorough research, I have discovered a few permanent solutions for this issue. These techniques can help you prevent this undesirable occurrence in addition to allowing you to recover unsaved Microsoft files. Let’s discuss them quickly one by one:

1. Microsoft AutoSave Feature

You may have heard this solution many times but I know you still don’t know how it works. With the help of this inbuilt feature, you can get back your recent unsaved Microsoft file.

Also read: Microsoft 365’s Copilot Users Get A Gpt-4 Turbo Upgrade

By default, Microsoft has an autosave feature for 10 minutes, which means Microsoft saves your files every 10 minutes but this is unpractical. But by decreasing this time to 1 minute, you can recover Microsoft files that you had created just a minute ago.

• Open any project on Microsoft Word
• Head to the File tab; at the top-left corner
• Select the Options tab located at the bottom as shown in the below snapshot

• You will get a pop-up dashboard on your screen, select the Save option from that
• Look inside the save documents section on the right side

• This is the most important step where you need to tweak your Microsoft settings
• Click on the check box “Save AutoRecover information every” if not already checked
• Now, set this time to 1 minute (irrespective of what it was previously)
• You can also change the AutoRecover file location for quick access in the future
• Finally, click on the OK button at the bottom to save the settings

Now onwards, your all Microsoft project files will automatically be saved to your system every 1 minute even if you suddenly close Microsoft, it saves your files.

Next time when there is a power outage or you mistakenly close Microsoft files, just click on the File tab and look at the manage documents to see your recently saved files. Alternatively, these files can also be accessed by clicking on the Open tab.

How to Recover Microsoft Project Files Via Temporary Files

If you have mistakenly lost your Microsoft project files, the other effective to retrieve them is through the temporary files command. Follow below quick steps below to retrieve unsaved files:

• Press the Windows + R keys to open a command prompt on your computer
• Inside the command prompt, type %temp% and hit the enter button or click on OK

• You will get a long list of temporary files
• You can either search your file by name or extension
• The simple way to get the quick files is by clicking on Date modified and looking for recently deleted Microsoft project files

Recover Unsaved Microsoft Project Files Using Software

Though the above-mentioned methods are the best way to recover Microsoft project files, you can use third-party tools for more robust solutions. To assist you in recovering your deleted Microsoft data, a number of applications and software are available. These tools can help you to find files of any specific disk or folder. Some of them are:

• 4DDiG
• iMyFone D-Back
• EaseUs
• Recovery Toolbox for Projects

Conclusion

This is all about How to Recover Microsoft Project Files quickly. Losing your important file is indeed very daunting especially if you don’t where it gets saved and how to recover them. As discussed, the best method to recover unsaved Microsoft files is properly using Microsoft AutoRecover and saving yourself for such instances in the near future. However, if you are still struggling to recover your files, don’t hesitate to ask us.