I need some help...I just don't understand what happened to my file!

[CTyankee]

I have a file for the 2 page contents listing for my upcoming book that I am self publishing. I went to open it and saw blank pages. My wp was telling me the document was 66 pages long! I found the 2 contents pages two thirds of the way that I scrolled down. How did THAT happen? I managed to get the two contents pages down to the end of the document so I could simply print out pp.65 and 66.

I am totally mystified as to how this could have happened.

How can I simply delete the blank pages? And why did my file so mysteriously change in the first place?It's just me and hubby in this household and he never looks at my files.

[TexasProgresive]

1. With that many pages- copy and paste your 2 pages in a new text doc

and save it with a slightly different name. That would be easier then trying to delete all those blank pages.

As to why it happened- I hate to say it but stuff happens- I've had unaccountable options change. It is annoying. Fortunatly you didn't lose you pages they were just mixed up with a lot of blank pages.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Do you have, perchance, a CAT? Does s/he ever get near your keyboard? (nt)

[csziggy]

3. What word processor do you use?

Most modern ones automatically save versions of the file as you work on it. You might have a copy stored somewhere under a cryptic name.

Knowing which word processor and the version, maybe you or I could google where it would store those backups.

For instance I found this:

For Word 2013 Users:

On the File menu, click Open, and then click Recent Documents.
Scroll to the end of all recent documents, and then click Recover Unsaved Documents.
If you find the Word document that you are looking for, double-click it to open it.
Save it immediately.
https://www.easeus.com/file-recovery/recover-lost-word-documents-in-windows-10.html

The same page has ways to locate for many versions of Word on different versions of Windows.

[CTyankee]

4. I use Word but I can't remember which version I have.

I'll call my computer guy. He should know. He's been our computer repair/replace/advisor for years and years now. Maybe it is time for an upgrade.

[csziggy]

5. Try the steps recommended on that page I linked

You can find out the Word version by going to the little Microsoft button at the upper left, click it, then in the drop down menu click Resources/About. (At least that is where I can find out my Word 2007 version info.)

Apparently Word has changed and no longer uses cryptic titles for their auto save versions. It does still have an autosave feature which can be selected in the Word options (at the bottom of the popup when you click the Microsoft icon at the upper left) under Advanced - scroll down to Save. The location can be selected in the same window under General/File Locations - default for AutoRecover files is Users/(yourname)/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Word.

That all seems to be selected by default since I have never used Word much I haven't bothered to customize it. But since I have not used it much, I don't have any autosaved documents in my AutoRecover folder.

[CTyankee]

6. Thanks for the info!