Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Determining if a Document is Corrupt.
Vivian noted that there are times she suspects that a document may be corrupt, but she doesn't really know for sure. This leads her to wonder if there is an easy way to verify the integrity of a document or to easily tell if a document is corrupt.
The short answer is that there is no way to easily tell if a document is corrupted. The internal structure of Word documents is quite complex, and complexity always presents the possibility of corruption. The severity of the corruption can manifest itself in different ways. Some problems may result in a minor "glitch" (such as a character or two changing in a document) that can be easily corrected. Other problems may result in document instability or, in severe cases, a document that is completely unusable.
If you suspect a document is corrupt and you can still open the document, these steps represent the "tried and true" first line of trying to recover the document:
If you are using Word 2003 there is something else you can try, as well. When you are attempting to open a document, you'll normally find yourself staring at the Open dialog box. Use the controls in the dialog box to locate the file you think is corrupted, then click the down arrow at the right of the Open button. In the resulting options, choose Open and Repair.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3798) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Determining if a Document is Corrupt.
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2019-04-12 11:25:08
Forgive me, this may not be the right place to address a problem I have, but during my search for some help I ended up here. I'm hoping you can help or at least steer me to someone who can.
I have a strange issue with my Acer laptop. It's an Aspire E 15 with Windows 10. Not a top of the line laptop, I know. There have been a few quirky issues before, but this is an odd one. I have written a book using the Word program Apache Open Office which I've used for countless documents for years without a problem. On a recent Save of my DOT File, which is 919 kb, I changed the document name from xxxxxx.ab5 to xxxxxx.ab6. When I returned to ab6, there suddenly were 400 pages of hashtags, every letter in every word on every page now exists as hashtags. ab5 is OK as is every other doc including earlier versions of my book .ab1-4. What the hell is going on and how can I recover this important file? I tried a few things--visiting ASCII Filter Options and thought the Character set was messed up---it's presently set as "Western Europe (ASCII/US)" but none of the options worked--but nothing I tried worked. Any guidance eould be much appreciated. I thank you in advance for any light you could shed on this. #attack of the 941,067 hashtags
2017-05-05 11:20:51
bence zakonyi
just saved my life!
Thank you very much, your advice is more than helpful!
2015-05-12 07:35:46
Shane
Thank god for this, I would have lost my 400 word document otherwise, thank you so much
2014-10-29 08:30:53
JosephGal
DOC Repair Kit is a comprehensive Microsoft Word DOC repair tool with immense potential and an interface that makes the entire procedure a snap. Based on a lightning-fast proprietary core, the program knows how to repair Word DOC files in situations when other tools appear completely helpless.
For more information: http://www.doc.repair/
If this way didn’t work, try to find the answer here: http://www.filerepairforum.com/forum/microsoft/microsoft-aa/word/392-how-to-repair-word-after-the-file-is-corrupted-and-cannot-be-opened
Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
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Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: 
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