Recovering previous versions of TEMP files that have been overridden by reopening attachment

So typical story, I opened a document from an email attachment, started working from it without saving it to any specific location, then just clicked "Save" and closed it. When I realized what I had done, I knew that I needed to retrieve it from my Temp folder, but I could not remember how to access the Temp folder, and remembered a previous post that had instructed me to open an attachment, go to the Properties, and look at the file location. I did so, choosing to reopen the same attachment from the original email I started working from. I successful found the Temp folder and the file...BUT I FOUND THE NEW FILE I HAD JUST OPENED, not the one I spent hours working on! I found the following article from Microsoft, which says that when Word create a temporary file, it deletes the previous version of the document. I made a huge mistake in re-opening the same attachment, because now there is only one version of the document! In the past I've seen files that get reopened several times numbered, but this time it seems previous versions just get deleted from the Temp file. Help! Is there any way to recover the Previous Versions of the file that my computer deleted when I reopened the same attachment from my email?

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211632/en-us

Details shown here, as to whether you can retrieve the original depends as by its nature the folder is a temp location and will be cleaned up from time to time, or in any maintenance process

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/securetemp-files-folder/

 PS The original saved temp file will not have been overwritten by you opening the attachment again, but could already have been deleted in any maintenance process 

Contributor since 2006
Currently win11 Pro & O365 Bus, multiple devices

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

This took me to the folder I searched in extensively (although I should mention I actually downloaded the document from Dropbox and thus the files were stored in the Content.IE5 subfolder. I am interested in the following section which suggests a maintenance process, and it is this process that I think deleted the previous version of my file:

 

"Outlook 2010 does a better job at cleaning up the secure temp files and it’s possible you will not find the secure temp folder or files in the secure temp folder.", from the link you posted above.

 

Any way to recover these files, which appear to be deleted as part of a maintenance process?

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

No, they have gone (Unless you have a system image created as part of your backup scheme)
Contributor since 2006
Currently win11 Pro & O365 Bus, multiple devices

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info


Last updated November 17, 2023 Views 3,202 Applies to: