How to Restore Deleted Items in Microsoft Word

1. Press and hold the Ctrl key and press 'Z.' This 'Control + Z' keyboard command is the shortcut for using the 'undo' feature in Word. It will 'undo' the last action you performed, whether it was typing a word or deleting content. Press it multiple times to undo the last few actions. This is a good method to use if you accidentally deleted content within a few minutes.
2. Click the 'Undo' drop-down menu at the top of the Word screen. The Undo drop-down menu looks like an arrow pointing up and left. When you open the drop-down menu, you will see a list of all actions performed on your document. Scroll down until you find the action that accidentally deleted your content, and select that action to undo it. Note that this will also undo every action performed since the action you wish to undo, so if you have written new text since then that you do not want to lose, copy and paste that text into another document so you do not lose it when you perform the undo action.
3. Save frequently, but consider saving the document as a new version each time. That way, if version 5 is missing content, you can open version 4 to recover the lost content. If you save over the old version each time, you are essentially removing older versions and possibly losing content.
4. Acquire a data-recovery program if all else fails. A data-recovery program might be able to find older versions that include the missing text. The formatting will likely be incorrect if the program finds the lost content, but at least the text is there in some form. Several programs are available (see Resources for two possibilities).