Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hi, I have a similar problem. I was working on a odt file when my laptop accidentally shut down. When I re-started it, I found that Apache OpenOffice prompted me to register my name and initials afresh. Then, when I went to open my file (P3_ver1.odt) it prompted me to choose from a menu ASCII Filter options with choices of character sets, font, language etc. The default set was 'western europe' and when I hit 'ok' it opened the file but containing just lines of # going all the way to the end of the document. All text was gone. Is there a way to recover this file? Thanks in advance

Here is the odt file I was talking about. Had to zip it.

Your problem is actually different; your document is completely empty of any content. Please see [Tutorial] The Dreaded Pound Signs: file reduced to #### for guidelines on how to try and recover earlier versions of your file.

I assume you may not have kept multiple backups of your work; for future peace of mind, you might want to consider the Timestamped backup extension.

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.