Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I recently started using open office 4.1.5 for my work. Yesterday after saving my work i fell asleep. When i woke up today to do my work it wouldn't open! then i restarted the laptop and when i went on it again it opened up on to some ASCII Filter Options. no matter what option i use my work does not open up. instead comes something like ###################################################### all over my work! How to retrieve my work?

I am sorry but, had you searched, you would have found that ######... means all userdata has been lost from the file.

Your only hope is to see [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files for

a) detailed instructions on how to recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery.
b) how to find previous versions of the file in the folder it is located in, but which have since been deleted.
c) how to un-delete the temporary files Writer wrote while you were editing the file, and then deleted. This will recover your file as it was when you last opened or you last saved it and is probably your best hope.

As a new poster you will find much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date Writer guide and the Writer Manual. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Press F1 to access the Help screen and search for your problem

The chapter headings in the manual are:

1 - Introducing Writer
2 - Setting up Writer
3 - Working with Text
4 - Formatting Pages
5 - Printing, Exporting, Faxing and E-Mailing
6 - Introduction to Styles
7 - Working with Styles
8 - Working with Graphics
9 - Working with Tables
10 - Working with Templates
11 - Using Mail Merge
12 - Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies
13 - Working with Master Documents
14 - Working with Fields
15 - Using Forms in Writer
16 - Customizing Writer – Keyboard shortcuts.

When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function - it is often more comprehensive than the manual.