I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble finding your edited document. It sounds like you may have accidentally saved it in a different location or with a different file name. Here are some steps you can take to try and locate the document:
- Check your email attachments: If you opened the document from an email attachment, it's possible that the edited version was saved back to the email as an attachment. Check your sent folder to see if you sent the edited version to yourself.
- Search your computer: Use the search function on your computer to search for the file name or any keywords from the document. Make sure to search all drives and folders, including hidden folders. You can also try searching for all Word documents modified on the date you were working on the document.
- Check the auto-recovery folder: Word has an auto-recovery feature that saves a copy of your document every few minutes. Check the auto-recovery folder to see if there is a recent copy of your edited document. To find the auto-recovery folder, go to File Options Save and look for the "AutoRecover file location" field.
- Look for temporary files: If you were working on the document for a while, there may be temporary files saved on your computer. Look for files with the extension ".tmp" or "~" in the file name. These files may be located in the same folder as the original document or in a temporary folder.
Regarding the ".dat" file you found, it's possible that it is the edited document but the file extension was changed. Try renaming the file with a ".doc" extension and see if you can open it in Word. If that doesn't work, you can try opening the file in a text editor like Notepad to see if you can find any recognizable text. If you do find text, you can copy and paste it into a new Word document and format it as needed.
I hope these tips help you locate your edited document. Good luck with your graduate school application!