To recover Microsoft Office Word documents that have been overwritten, you have the option of reverting to and opening up a previously saved version of the Word document. Saving versions of your document is useful at remaining organised while the document is progressing into completion and makes it easier to go back to a previous stage if part of the document is damaged or lost.

Open Microsoft Word.

Click "Versions" under the "File" menu.

Check the "Automatically save version on close" check box.

Select "Save Now."

Label the version you are saving and press "OK."

Add any changes you wish to the document. Then re-save those changes by following Steps 2 through 4.

Select "Versions" under the "File" menu to restore the overwritten version, that is, the document with the changes saved to it as described.

Select and highlight the version that was overwritten.

Click "Open" to restore that document.