Please note that this is a Thunderbird forum and you are asking a question about MSWord and whether it has performed an auto save on an opened document on your computer

I can see how you thought it might be the right place to ask as the document was originally received as an email attachment. Any way here is some info which might be useful.

When you opened the attachment to read modify etc, it opened using eg: MSWord, so your computer would have created a temporary file just to open and display the attached document. It also creates another word tmp file which will disappear after closing or saving. If a eg:crash occurs then it may be stored by the AutoRecovery settings.

On my computer (Vista), when I open an email attachment, a copy is stored in : User Account name > Appdata > Local > Temp.

Appdata folders are hidden files and folders, so if performing a search on computer you need to include hidden files or make hidden files and folders visible to manually search the directory. The AppData folder is folder is a hidden folder; to show hidden folders, open a Windows Explorer window and choose "Organize → Folder and Search Options → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show hidden files and folders".

More on MSWord auto recovery:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/107686

I use MSOffice 2007, so Autorecover files are located in the Appdata > Roaming > Microsoft > Word folder.

I'm not sure what happened in your case, because whenever you modify a document and go to close it, Word usually asks if you want to save or not. Also, it is unknown as to whether the documnet settings/permissions allow modification of the file.

Thanks Todd-Hall for your fast reply. I don't think I can recover the document as I had been saving it as I used it and had an orderly log off. But I'll know for next time!