Open DOC File

Repair Corrupted DOC File

You may find it tragic, so to speak, that when you double-click on a DOC file, you will get the dreaded message that "it cannot be opened because..."

As you well know, this window gives little information about it and is limited to details such as "The file is damaged and cannot be opened" with no other option than "OK".

Microsoft Word files, the word processor par excellence of the Microsoft Office suite, saves documents created with the DOC or DOCX extensions depending on the versions.

In versions prior to Office 2007 only DOC was used, but in more recent versions of Microsoft Word all new documents created are saved by default as DOCX, which is also compatible with OpenOffice.

There are several ways to repair a corrupted DOC file, we show you 3 of them.

Using Microsoft Word

This option is possible only when the file is partially damaged and you can repair the contents through these simple steps from Microsoft Word itself:

1. Start Microsoft Word.
2. Open a blank document.
3. Click to open the File menu in the upper left corner.
4. Select "Open" from the drop-down menu.
5. Select the corrupted file on the disk.
6. Click "Open" and select the "Open and Repair" option from the drop-down menu.

This process may take a few seconds or minutes while the corrupted file is being processed. Once completed, a document will be opened with the repaired data or a notice indicating that it has not been possible to repair.

Recovery with online services

If Microsoft Word has not been able to repair the corrupted file we are still hopeful. To do this, we are going to use one of the most user-friendly and accessible online services such as OfficeRecovery.

This online service is capable of recovering several types of files, including DOC files that interest us at the moment. Works on Windows, iOS, Android, and macOS computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

To repair a file  do the following:

• Select the corrupted file on the disk or device.
• Press the "Upload file" button.
• If the service succeeds in repairing the Word file, you can preview the contents of the document and download it.

It should be noted that this service is not free, however, the recovered file is marked with a tag named:

"Recovery for Word 4.0 http://ref.officerecovery.com/word/XXXXwr"

The service gives you several payment options ranging from a fee to immediately download the file, to paying a batch of recoveries for a daily fee.

Damaged file recovery with software

This third way is indicated when we have a large number of damaged files or the file contains confidential information that discourages the use of the online service. Below is a list of the most popular softwares for this task:

• Recoverit (Wondershare)
• MagicUneraser
• OfficeRecovery