In applications written for Windows, how do I open a document when I don't know where I saved it?

Most Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and XP applications automatically keep a list of the most recently opened files at the bottom of the File menu; therefore, the following instructions work in Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and even WordPerfect.

Note: These directions will not help you retrieve items that you worked on when the option was off. If you want to locate an item that you worked on before you enabled the Display last open documents option on the File menu, you should use the Start menu. For information about using the Find option in the Start menu, see In Windows, how do I locate a file if I know its name or its contents?

Open the program, and select the File menu. You will see a numeric list of your most recently opened files toward the bottom of the menu, with the first file being the most recently accessed. If the file is on a drive that you have access to, when you select the file, the application will automatically open it.

Alternatively, to look for files, from the Start menu, select Documents. Select the desired file, which will open as its last saved version.

If the list of recently opened files does not display, you can set it up to display in the future, according to the instructions below:

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint

1. From the Tools menu, select Options... , and then click the General tab.
   
   
2. Make sure Recently used file list is checked.
   
   
3. In the text box to the left of "entries", you can enter a number up to  9  as the number of files shown by default.

Microsoft Access

The most recently opened databases are displayed in the Open dialog box. They are also listed at the bottom of the File menu. The More Files... option allows you to browse more than the last four databases (four is the default) that you had opened.

WordPerfect 8

1. From the Tools menu, select Settings. Double-click Environment.
   
   
2. From the File menu, select Interface, and then Display last open documents.

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