Best Word File Fixer Solutions: Repair Corrupted Word Files

When you are trying to open a Word document and see a corruption error, it can be frustrating if it contains some vital information. When a corrupted Word file blocks your access to crucial data, repairing it is still possible with relatively straightforward steps.

In this article, we’ll be exploring simple and effective methods to repair corrupted Word files using both built-in Word file fixer features and external software. Moreover, you’ll be introduced to a file repair tool that could be the best way out there to repair a corrupted Word file.

Part 1. What are The Basic Signs of Word File Corruption?

Part 2. Easy Ways to Repair Corrupted Word File [Quick Solutions]

Part 3. The Best Way to Repair MS Word Files with Repairit

Part 4. How to Avoid Corrupting Word Files: The Right Approaches?

Part 1. What are The Basic Signs of Word File Corruption?

Before exploring ways to repair document files, let’s go through the basic signs that tell you that something is wrong with your document:

1. Error Messages on Opening: You could get alerts like “Word experienced an error trying to open the file” or be notified of file corruption and inaccessibility.
2. Missing or Garbled Content: It is possible that the file may be missing content, or it may appear replaced with random text and symbols.
3. Formatting and Layout Issues: The document could have distorted or incorrect styles with shifted layouts or wrong display of fonts.
4. Crashing and Freezing: The Word file could freeze or even become unresponsive and crash whenever it is opened, indicating a problem with it.
5. Wrong File Size: If the file size is abnormally large or smaller than the real size, it indicates a structural issue with the file.

Part 2. Easy Ways to Repair Corrupted Word File [Quick Solutions]

While you are looking for ways to repair a corrupted Word file, let’s go through these top quick fixes first:

1.     With Microsoft’s Built-in Repair Feature

Microsoft has an internal “Open and Repair” tool that can tackle common corruption issues with files. The tool works by restoring the document’s original content and structure without additional third-party software or technical knowledge. It works directly with files to repair compatibility problems and text with some media elements. It is a quick and user-friendly way to address minor corruption issues with the following straightforward steps:

Instructions. In the program, click on the “File” tab from the top bar to open a menu. Select the “Open” tab before hitting the “Browse” tab from the following menu. Select the file you want to repair in the pop-up window and expand the downward arrow menu to choose the “Open and Repair” option. The document will be repaired and opened, which can be verified and saved.

2.     Recovering Text from a File

When standard MS Word repair options don’t work, another built-in feature is offered to extract only text from files. This “Recover text from any file” feature allows you to recover plain, crucial text from even severely corrupted files. It works by ignoring the formatting layers of the document and tries to salvage the text content only. To extract the valuable written content from a file, follow the given simple steps:

Step 1. Within the “File” tab, select the “Browse” tab by clicking on the “Open” button.

Step 2. Expand the downward menu beside “All Files” to choose “Recover Text from Any File” and pick your desired file before you hit the “Open” tab. MS Word will open and recover text from the file.

3.     Restoring the Previous Version of a Word File

Sometimes, you can simply restore the previous version of a Word file if it was corrupted recently. This tool is based on file history or restore points to make an earlier version of the file accessible. If you use OneDrive or have Windows backup enabled, this method can be a lifesaver for recovering documents. To repair document files that just crashed due to accidental overwrites, comply with the given instructions:

Instructions. Open your file and go to the “File” tab, select the “Info” option from the menu, and hit the “Manage Document” option. Next, click the “Recover Unsaved Documents” tab and pick the unsaved documents you want from the list. You can then open the file and save it to your device immediately.

4.     Using Online Repair Solution (Repairit Online)

If these built-in features don’t work or you need a faster and automated way to repair a corrupted Word file, Repairit Online is an option. This is a cloud-based Word file repair option without any risk of privacy breaches. To fix the text and formatting of your damaged documents, you only need 3 basic steps. Here’s how you can use this tool to make your file repair easy and hassle-free:

Step 1. Access the Tool and Add the Corrupted Word file

Once on the tool page, click on the “Add” button to go to the repair tool. Select the “File Repair” feature under the “Repair Feature” tab from the left column in the interface. Then, import your file into the tool by tapping the “Add Files” button.

Step 2. Start the Document Repair Process

Once your documents are added, press the “Repair All” button to initiate the procedure.

Step 3. Preview and Save the Repaired Documents

You can check the files by clicking on the “Preview” icon or save them by pressing the “Download” icon. 

Part 3. The Best Way to Repair MS Word Files with Repairit

You might be facing this issue even after trying all these solutions. If the internal solutions fail, an external repair option like Repairit can be the perfect alternative. It provides support for Microsoft Office 365, along with various versions of Word. You can fix all Word file issues like blank documents and unreadable files with minimal size restrictions. It gives easy repair options for various content elements like images, fonts, and hyperlinks.

Repairit supports Windows and macOS devices, with perfect file repair and a high recovery rate. Without a limit to the number of files that you can repair, employ this tool to repair document files safely. The powerful repair engine of this tool is designed to restore many other file formats, along with Word documents like PPT files.

Key Features

1. Preview Availability: You can check the content of your fixed files using its preview option.
2. Batch Processing: The batch-processing tool allows you to process your Word files in batches.
3. Lossless Repair: It ensures a safe recovery without putting your original file content at risk.

A Comprehensive Guide to Repair Word Files Using Repairit

Step 1. Access the Repair Tool and Import the File

After you launch the program, within the “More Types Repair” section, select the “Document Repair”option. Now, insert your Word file by pressing the “+Add” button to proceed.

Step 2. Start the Process for Word File Repair

After you have added your documents, click on the “Repair” button to start the procedure.

Step 3. Preview and Save the Repaired Document

When the process is complete, click on the “Preview” button to double-check the repairs. You can directly save your files to the device by pressing the “Save” button.

Part 4. How to Avoid Corrupting Word Files: The Right Approaches?

After going through all the possible ways for MS Word repair, let’s learn about some tips to avoid this problem:

1. Frequent Saving: You should frequently save the documents to enable restore points to perform quick recovery.
2. Enable Auto-save and Auto Repair: The auto-save and auto-repair features should always be turned on, so automatic backup versions are created to protect your file. 
3. Don’t Edit Directly on External Drives: Copy the documents to local drives before editing them to avoid corruption in the event of an abrupt disconnection.
4. Protect Against Viruses: Scan your computer with anti-virus tools to avoid malware introducing corruption directly to your files.
5. Use Reliable Power Supplies and Hardware: The old equipment should be regularly replaced, and a UPS should be used to avoid corruption in power outages.

Conclusion

To sum up, encountering a corrupted Word file and looking for possible solutions can be very bothersome. In this article, we have explored various fixes to address this problem, including quick internal fixes and desktopfile repair tools. Among all those studied, we recommend using Repairit as the best Word file fixer tool.