If you have created an MS Word file or have received it from someone else and find it damaged, you can repair it using the text recovery converter.
In the following sections, you will understand how to use the Microsoft Word text recovery converter to recover content from a corrupt Word file. In addition, you will also understand the process of an efficient third-party tool to get the job done should the integrated feature fails to serve the purpose well enough.
What Is Microsoft Word’s Text Recovery Converter?
As mentioned above, the text recovery converter is a built-in feature in Microsoft Word that allows you to open damaged or corrupt Word files and recover their content. While the concept sounds quite promising, it comes with certain limitations, such as:
- It works efficiently with DOC files (created using pre-MS Word 2007 versions). The results are not that convincing when you use it with the DOCX documents
- For DOCX files, you may need to rely on a third-party tool to convert them to DOC before using the text recovery converter feature
- Content recovered with the text recovery converter also comes with junk characters at the beginning and end of the document, and you must get rid of them before saving the file
- Everything except the text is lost post recovery
- The document loses all its formatting after recovery, and the entire content is recovered in plain text
Regardless of the confinements, you may want to open a file with the text recovery converter if your data is sensitive, especially when you don’t have its backup.
How to Open Word File with Text Recovery Converter
The process of using the text recovery converter in MS Word is simple. You can follow the step-by-step instructions given below to learn how to get the job done:
Note: MS Word 2021 is used here for illustrations.
Step 1. Launch MS Word
Step 2. Click Open from the left pane
Step 3. Click Browse from the Open pane in the center
Step 4. Click the File Type menu from the bottom-right of the Open box
Step 5. Choose the Recover Text from Any File option from the list
Step 6. Locate and select the corrupt Word file
Step 7. Click Open from the bottom-right area
Step 8. Wait while the MS Word text recovery converter recovers the text and opens the file in Compatibility Mode
Step 9. Click Close from the bottom-right area of the Show Repairs box
Step 10. From here, you can make the required modifications to the text and save the file with a new name
How to Open and Repair Word Document without Text Recovery Converter in Word?
If the MS Word text recovery converter fails to recover the content from a corrupt document file, you may want to take an alternate route to retrieve the information. Some most common and widely practiced solutions in such scenarios are discussed below:
Using Open and Repair in MS Word
This method is a step ahead of the previous one as it repairs the damaged Word file altogether so you can recover its content.
To use Open and Repair in MS Word, you can try the following instructions:
- Launch MS Word
- Click Open from the left pane
- Click Browse from the Open pane in the center
- Use the Open box to locate and select the corrupt MS Word file, as explained earlier
- Click the down-facing arrow next to the Open button at the bottom-right corner
- Click Open and Repair from the list that appears
- Wait while MS Word repairs the file and reveals its content so you can use the information as needed
Using Wondershare Repairit
As the name suggests, Repairit by Wondershare is a file-repairing tool that you can use to open damaged or corrupt MS Word files and recover their content in no time. The best thing about Wondershare Repairit is that it is not limited to documents but can also fix issues with video files, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel workbooks.
Furthermore, Wondershare Repairit is available for both Windows and Mac computers, which means that regardless of the PC you have access to, your files are safe, even if you are not in the habit of taking regular backups.
You can ditch the text recovery converter and learn how to use Wondershare Repairit to repair a damaged Word file instead by following the instructions given below:
Step 1: Import a Corrupt Word Document
Download and install Wondershare Repairit. Launch the program and click the File Repair category from the left pane of the first interface.
Click the Document File Repair tile from the right window.
Use the Open box to select and import the corrupt Microsoft Word file to Repairit.
Optionally, click the Add button from the bottom-left of the right window to add more files for batch repairing.
Step 2: Repair and Preview the Document
Click Repair from the bottom-right corner and wait while Wondershare Repairit repairs your Word document.
Click OK on the confirmation message box that appears post completion.
On the next screen, click Preview from the right of the file name to preview the results of the repaired file.
Step 3: Save the File
Click Save from the bottom-right corner of the preview window and follow the on-screen instructions to save a new document instance to your PC.
Note: If Repairit fails to display the preview, you can save the file and then try opening it in MS Word.
FAQs
Is the text recovery converter feature reliable?
Yes, it is. However, it has some limitations, such as it doesn’t retain the formatting, removes any graphics in the document, cannot handle DOCX files efficiently, etc. Therefore, for the best results, many people rely on a third-party tool like Wondershare Repairit that is designed and developed specifically for the purpose.
Does the Open and Repair feature work well?
Microsoft introduced the feature to repair a corrupt file, which works effectively. However, if the damage is severe, you must rely on a third-party tool like Repairit that uses more efficient algorithms to handle complex tasks.
Why can’t I import DOC files to Wondershare Repairit?
At the time of this writing, Wondershare Repairit only supports files created using MS Office 2007 and above. Therefore, your best bet would be to save the document as DOCX. If you cannot open the file, you may need an online or offline format converter that can do the job for you.
Once you have converted DOC to DOCX, the rest of the repairing and content recovery process is easy and explained above.
Conclusion
While you can open a file with the text recovery converter which is a built-in feature in Microsoft Word, it removes all graphics and formatting from the content it recovers. Furthermore, the feature works well with DOC files. Due to this, many users across the globe ditch the text recovery converter and use Wondershare Repairit, which is much more advanced and efficient and produces promising outputs.
