Open Microsoft Word
Go to File
Select Open
Click Recover Unsaved Documents
Open Word after a crash or forced close to trigger the Document Recovery Pane automatically
If it does not appear, close Word and reopen the recovered file from the recovery location
Check the left side of the Word window for the Document Recovery Pane
Enable AutoRecover in Word Options if it is turned off
Make sure Word was not closed normally, since the pane appears after an unexpected shutdown