How to Repair or Recover Text From a Corrupt Word 2007 (.docx) File

Open and Repair the File
1. Start Microsoft Word. Click the "Microsoft Office" button and then click "Open."
2. Navigate to the damaged file. Click on the file to select it, and then click on the filename.
3. Click the drop-down arrow on the "Open" button and choose "Open and Repair." If the process is successful, the repaired document will open in Word. If you still receive an error message or the file appears to be damaged, you can attempt to recover the text from the file.
Recover Text From a Corrupt Word File
4. Start Word and click the "Microsoft Office" button.
5. Click the "Word Options" link at the bottom of the menu. Select "Advanced" in the left pane of the Word Options window. Select the "Confirm File Format Conversion on Open" check box in the General section and click "OK." This enables the text recovery feature.
6. Click the Microsoft Office button and click "Open." Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the File Name box. It may say "All Files" or "Word Documents." Choose "Recover Text from Any File(*.*)."
7. Navigate to the damaged file. Click on the file to select it, and then click on the filename. Click the "Open" button. Delete any binary data that appears at the beginning and end of the document before editing or saving the recovered text file.