Corrupt Word documents contain errors in their data that prevent Word from opening them correctly. In some cases, Word can repair corrupt files, but others will not work at all. In cases of unrepairable corruption, you will need to restore from a backup or download the file over again. Almost all corruption occurs when a file unexpectedly closes while saving.
Causes of Document Corruption
- If Word crashes while you’re typing, you will lose your work since the last time you saved, but your saved file will still function. If the program happens to crash or freeze right in the middle of saving your file, however, it can corrupt the file by leaving it partially written. Corruption can also occur in documents downloaded from the Internet if your connection goes out or you quit your Web browser part way through saving a file.
Working Around Corruption
- If you don’t have a backup or online copy of your file to revert to, you can attempt to repair a corrupt file. Begin to open the file in Word, but instead of clicking “Open” after selecting the file, click the arrow next to the Open button instead and select “Open and Repair” from the pop-up menu. Word will attempt to correct the damaged file, but will not succeed in every case.
