Have you ever accidentally closed a document without saving it? Or maybe your system suddenly crashed and all your work was lost? Fortunately, LibreOffice includes features designed to help prevent such losses. Thanks to AutoSave and backup copies, you can recover lost data—as long as you know where to look.

In this guide, you will learn how document recovery works in LibreOffice, where backup files are stored, and how to use them.

1. Does LibreOffice save files automatically?

Yes. LibreOffice includes:

• AutoRecovery (after a crash),
• and backup copies (created during manual saves).

If you enabled these features beforehand, recovering your data is very straightforward.

2. Where can you find backup copies and AutoRecovery files?

Default backup locations:

Windows

C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\LibreOffice\4\user\backup

Linux

~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/backup

macOS

~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice/4/user/backup

Tip: You can check or change the backup location in:

Tools → Options → LibreOffice → Paths → Backups

3. How to restore a document from a backup copy?

Go to the backup folder (locations listed above).

Locate a file with a name similar to the lost document and the .bak extension.

Copy the file and change its extension to .odt, .ods, or another format matching the original file.

Open it in LibreOffice—it contains your most recently saved version.

4. Recovering documents after a crash

If LibreOffice crashes and you launch it again, the program will automatically display the Document Recovery Wizard. Simply click Recover to restore the latest version of your document from the temporary recovery file.

Note: LibreOffice overwrites older temporary files, so do not wait too long before reopening the program.

5. What if no backup was created?

Check whether the following options were enabled:

Tools → Options → Load/Save → General

Enable:

• Save AutoRecovery information every X minutes
• Always create backup copy

If these options were not enabled, unfortunately recovering the document may not be possible.

Recovering documents in LibreOffice can be simple and effective—as long as you enable AutoSave and backup copies in advance. These features significantly reduce the risk of losing important data, even in the event of a system crash.