Summary
In this article, you will learn 4 effective ways to recover unsaved, lost and deleted Word document on Mac with detailed steps: [1]recover with AutoRecovery; [2]Recover from Temp folder; [3]Recover from Recovered item in Trash; [4]recover with Word file recovery software.
Accidentally closed Word without saving on Mac? Do you know how to recover unsaved Word documents on Mac? According to the unique features of Microsoft Word for Mac, you may find the unsaved item in the AutoRecovery folder, Temporary folder or Recovered item in Trash. Besides, if you unintentionally lost, deleted or formatted your Word document, you can recover a Word document on Mac with EaseUS Word file recovery software.
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
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Recover Unsaved Word Document | #1. Recover from the AutoRecovery folder...Full steps #2. Recover from the TMP folder...Full steps #3. Recover from the Recover item in Trash...Full steps |
Recover Deleted Word Document | #4. Recover with Word file recovery software...Full steps |
Jul 19, 2013 Resolving the Mystery of a Disappearing Mouse Cursor in Mac OS X. I have also found a sure fire way to make the pointer disappear – if you’re using the Pages App – drawing shapes, filling them with color – click the ‘color picker’ eye dropper tool – find the color you wish to match – ‘click’ – – Boom-POOF!
How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac
Embedded with more useful features in certain collaborative situations than Pages, Microsoft Word becomes increasingly popular among Mac computers. Office 365 even allows users to create Word files on their Mac. On one hand, Microsoft Word offers standard DOC or DOCX file formats that are compatible in almost every OS platform; On the other hand, Word 2020, 2019, 2018...2011 is featured with auto-saving, which enables us to recover a Word document before we could hit Save.
Based on the features of Microsoft Word for Mac, there are three potential ways to recover your unsaved Word documents. These methods can also be applied to recover unsaved Excel files on your Mac.
#1. Recover Unsaved Word Docs on Mac with AutoRecovery
The Word for Mac includes an AutoRecovery option. It is turned on by default. The app will automatically save a copy of an open Word file every 10 minutes. If Word freezes while you're working on a document, or if the computer crashes, you can use the AutoRecovery copy to recover unsaved Word document with the changes or additions that you made in your last Word for Mac session.
Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document
Unlike recovering unsaved Word document in Windows, the file recovery on Mac from the AutoRecovery folder is different.
Step 1. Open 'Finder' on your Mac, then head to 'Go' > 'Go to Folder'.
Step 2. Type: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery and click 'Go'.
Step 3. Open the AutoRecovery folder, locate all the files that start with the words 'AutoRecovery save of'. Select the one you want to recover, rename the file, then add the '.doc' filename extension.
Step 4. Double-click the file. The document now opens in Word for Mac.
Step 5. Click the File menu and select 'Save As'. Type a new name for the file into the Name field, select a folder for the file and click the 'Save' button.
Misplaced Cursor Microsoft Word Mac Free
#2. Recover Unsaved Word Documents on Mac from TMP Folder
The Word for Mac saves a copy of the unsaved document named as Word Work File in the Temporary folder. Your Mac also temporarily keep files in this folder. Though for many Mac users, it's not easy to find it.
Guide: How to recover an unsaved Word document on Mac
Step 1. Go to 'Applications' > 'Utilities' and double-click 'Terminal'.
Step 2. In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR and you will be directed to the TMP folder which is used to keep files temporarily.
Step 3. In the TMP folder, find and open the folder named 'TemporaryItems'. In it, right-click the desired unsaved Word files and 'Open with...' Microsoft Word.
Step 4. Save the Word file by clicking on 'File' > 'Save As' and save it to another location.
#3. Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac from Recovered Item
![Word Word](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126430108/985355428.jpg)
The Word for Mac temporarily saves documents that the user has not yet saved themselves in a folder named 'Recovered items', located in the Trash. If there are no recovered files, this folder will not appear.
Guide: How to find unsaved Word files on Mac
Step 1. Open 'Trash' by clicking its icon on the dock.
Step 2. Look for a folder labeled 'Recovered items' and click into it to look for your unsaved Word file. If you cannot find it, try the next solution.
#4. Recover Deleted Word Document with Word Recovery Software
The aforementioned three ways are exclusively for saving the file you're currently working on but suddenly disappear before clicking the Save button. To be specific, the methods will only work for files that are in the process of being worked on when they disappeared. Hence, if you lost a Word doc that is already existed by deletion, disk formatting or losing its access, you need to turn to other ways to recover a Word document on Mac.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is third-party specialized Mac data recovery software that can scour your hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, or USB flash drive to find all the lost data that vanishes without a trace on Mac OS X/macOS. It doesn't matter whether you emptied the trash bin or not, the deleted file will show up after you use the program to scan your selected drive.
For the first attempt, we strongly recommend you download its free version. It won't cost you a penny to search for your missing files. And since your problem is only for a few lost Word files, the 2GB recovery limit should be more than enough. The scan & recovery process is very simple, we’ll show you how it works.
Guide: How to recover a Word document on Mac
Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.
Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.
How to Increase the Chance of Unsaved Word Data Recovery
After suffering from the fear of losing your Word documents, you must not want to experience this kind of situation again. Thus, it's necessary for you to know how to avoid losing your Word files. To avoid completely losing your files, you can:
Tip 1. Save the Word Document Whenever You Create a New One
An ever unsaved Word document exists in the computer's RAM, not on the hard disk. Thus, the chances to save a Word Document that has never been saved before are slim. Knowing this should give you a hint that you should save the word document at least once whenever you create a new one.
Tip 2. Change the AutoSave Interval
After you save your Word document, the AutoSave feature will begin to work. To minimize the loss of the progress on the file you are working, you can change the frequency of AutoSave:
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.
Step 2. Go to 'Word' > 'Preferences' and click 'Save' under Output and Sharing.
Step 3. Check all the items under Save Options (Recommended) and change the interval of AutoSave, for example, from every 10 minutes to every 5 minutes.
If you follow the two tips above, you will substantially decrease the risk of losing your Word documents. What if you carelessly deleted your important Word files on your Mac? No worry. Try the free method to retrieve permanently deleted Word documents with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
1. Frequently Used Shortcuts | |
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⌘+Z or Ctrl+Z | Undo the last action |
⌘+X or Ctrl+X | Cut selected text or graphics |
⌘+C or Ctrl+C | Copy selected text or graphics to the Clipboard |
⌘+V or Ctrl+V | Paste the Clipboard contents |
Option+⌘+G | Choose the Go To command (Edit menu) |
Option+⌘+L | Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box |
F8 | Extend a selection |
⌘+` (Grave accent) | Go to the next window |
⌘+Shift+S | Choose the Save As command (File menu). |
Shift+F2 | Copy selected text |
Shift+F3 | Change letters to uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case |
Ctrl+F for Find; Ctrl+H for Find and Replace | Find or Find and Replace |
⌘+P or Ctrl+P | Print a document |
Shift+F5 | Move to the previous insertion point |
⌘+Shift+` (Grave accent) | Go to the previous window |
Shift+F7 | Open the Thesaurus pane |
Shift+F8 | Shrink a selection |
Shift+F9 | Switch between a field code and its result |
⌘+F3 | Cut the selection to the Spike |
⌘+F4 | Close the window |
Option+⌘+R | Expand or minimize the ribbon |
⌘+Shift+F5 | Edit a bookmark |
Option+F7 | Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type check box must be selected (Word menu, Preferences command, Spelling and Grammar). |
⌘+Shift+L | Look up selected text on the Internet |
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2. Move the Cursor | |
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Move the cursor | Some Windows keyboard shortcuts conflict with the corresponding default Mac OS keyboard shortcuts. To use these shortcuts, you may have to change your Mac keyboard settings to change the Show Desktop shortcut for the key. |
Arrow Left | Move one character to the left |
Arrow Right | Move one character to the right |
Option+Arrow Left | Move one word to the left |
Option+Arrow Right | Move one word to the right |
⌘+Arrow Up | Move one paragraph up |
⌘+Arrow Down | Move one paragraph down |
Shift+Tab | Move one cell to the left (in a table) |
Tab | Move one cell to the right (in a table) |
Arrow Up | Move up one line |
Arrow Down | Move down one line |
⌘+Arrow Right or End | Move to the end of a line |
⌘+Arrow Left or Home | Move to the beginning of a line |
Page Up | Move up one screen (scrolling) |
Page Down | Move down one screen (scrolling) |
⌘+Page Down | Move to the top of the next page |
⌘+Page Up | Move to the top of the previous page |
⌘+End; On a MacBook keyboard: ⌘+FN+Arrow Right | To the end of a document |
⌘+Home; On a MacBook keyboard: ⌘+FN+Arrow Left | To the beginning of a document |
Shift+F5 | To the previous insertion point |
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3. Select text and graphics | |
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Select the first item that you want, hold down ⌘ , and then select any additional items. | Select multiple items not next to each other |
Shift+Arrow Right | Select one character to the right |
Shift+Arrow Left | Select one character to the left |
Shift+Option+Arrow Right | Select one word to the right |
Shift+Option+Arrow Left | Select one word to the left |
⌘+Shift+Arrow Right or Shift+End | Select to the end of a line |
⌘+Shift+Arrow Left or Shift+Home | Select to the beginning of a line |
Shift+Arrow Down | Select one line down |
Shift+Arrow Up | Select one line up |
⌘+Shift+Arrow Down | Select to the end of a paragraph |
⌘+Shift+Arrow Up | Select to the beginning of a paragraph |
Shift+Page Down | Select one screen down |
Shift+Page Up | Select one screen up |
⌘+Shift+Home | Select to the beginning of a document |
⌘+Shift+End | Select to the end of a document |
Option+⌘+Shift+Page Down | Select to the end of a window |
⌘+A | Select to select the entire document |
⌘+Shift+F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode. | Select to a vertical block of text |
F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode. | Select to a specific location in a document |
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4. Select text and graphics in a table | |
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Tab | Select the next cell's contents |
Shift+Tab | Select the preceding cell's contents |
Hold down Shift and press an arrow key repeatedly. | Extend a selection to adjacent cells |
Click in the column's top or bottom cell. Hold down Shift and press the Arrow Up or Arrow Down key repeatedly. | Select a column |
⌘+Shift+F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode. | Extend a selection (or block) |
Shift+F8 | Reduce the selection size |
Select the first item that you want, hold down ⌘ , and then select any additional items. | Select multiple cells, columns, or rows that are not next to each other |
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5. Extend a selection | |
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F8 | Turn on extend mode |
F8, Arrow Left | Select the nearest character to the left |
F8, Arrow Right | Select the nearest character to the right |
Press F8 repeatedly to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and document. | Expand a selection |
Shift+F8 | Reduce the size of a selection |
Esc | Turn off extend mode |
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![Word Word](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126430108/748339081.gif)
6. Edit text and graphics | |
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⌘+C or F3 | Copy text or graphics |
⌘+Shift+C | Copy a style |
⌘+Shift+V | Paste a style |
Ctrl+Option+C | Copy text or graphics to the Scrapbook |
⌘+X or F2 | Cut selected text to the clipboard |
⌘+X or F2 (then move the cursor and press ⌘+V or F4 ) | Move text or graphics |
Option+F3 | Create AutoText |
⌘+Option+Shift+V | Insert AutoText |
⌘+V or F4 | Paste the Clipboard contents |
⌘+Ctrl+V | Paste special |
⌘+Option+Shift+V | Paste and match the formatting of the surrounding text |
⌘+Shift+F3 | Paste the Spike contents |
Delete | Delete one character to the left |
⌘+Delete | Delete one word to the left |
⌘ or Clear | Delete one character to the right |
⌘+⌘ | Delete one word to the right |
⌘+X or F2 | Cut selected text to the Clipboard |
⌘+Z | Undo the last action |
⌘+Y | Redo the last action |
⌘+F3 | Cut to the Spike |
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7. Align and format paragraphs | |
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⌘+E | Center a paragraph |
⌘+J | Justify a paragraph |
⌘+L | Left-align a paragraph |
⌘+R | Right-align a paragraph |
Ctrl+Shift+M | Indent a paragraph from the left |
⌘+Shift+M | Remove a paragraph indent from the left |
⌘+T | Create a hanging indent |
⌘+Shift+T | Remove a hanging indent |
⌘+Option+K | Start AutoFormat |
⌘+Shift+N | Apply the Normal style |
⌘+Option+1 | Apply the Heading 1 style |
⌘+Option+2 | Apply the Heading 2 style |
⌘+Option+3 | Apply the Heading 3 style |
⌘+Shift+L | Apply the List style when the cursor is at the beginning of a line |
Option+Spacebar | Insert a nonbreaking space |
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8. Set line spacing | |
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⌘+1 | Set lines as single-spaced |
⌘+2 | Set lines as double-spaced |
⌘+5 | Set lines as 1.5-line spacing |
⌘+0 (zero) | Add or remove one line of space directly preceding a paragraph |
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9. Format characters | |
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⌘+Shift+F | Change the font |
⌘+Shift+> | Increase the font size |
⌘+Shift+< | Decrease the font size |
⌘+ | Increase the font size by 1 point |
⌘+ | Decrease the font size by 1 point |
⌘+D | Change the formatting of characters (Font command, Format menu) |
Shift+F3 | Change the case of letters |
⌘+Shift+A | Format in all capital letters |
⌘+B | Apply bold formatting |
⌘+U | Apply an underline |
⌘+Shift+W | Underline words but not spaces |
⌘+Shift+D | Double-underline text |
⌘+I | Apply italic formatting |
⌘+Shift+K | Format in all small capital letters |
⌘+= (Equal sign) | Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing) |
⌘+Shift++ (Plus sign) | Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing) |
⌘+Shift+X | Apply strike-through formatting |
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10. Insert special characters | |
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⌘+F9 | Insert an empty field |
Shift+Return | Insert a line break |
⌘+Enter | Insert a page break |
⌘+Shift+Return | Insert a column break |
⌘+Shift+- (Hyphen) | Insert a nonbreaking hyphen |
Option+G | Insert the copyright symbol |
Option+R | Insert the registered trademark symbol |
Option+2 | Insert the trademark symbol |
Option+; (Semicolon) | Insert an ellipsis |
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11. Work with fields | |
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Ctrl+Shift+D | Insert a DATE field |
⌘+Option+Shift+L | Insert a LISTNUM field |
Ctrl+Shift+P | Insert a PAGE field |
Ctrl+Shift+T | Insert a TIME field |
⌘+F9 | Insert an empty field |
F9 | Update selected fields |
⌘+Shift+F9 | Unlink a field |
Shift+F9 | Switch between a field code and its result |
Option+F9 | Switch between all field codes and their results |
Option+Shift+F9 | Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results |
F11 | Go to the next field |
Shift+F11 | Go to the previous field |
⌘+F11 | Lock a field |
⌘+Shift+F11 | Unlock a field |
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12. Outline a document | |
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Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Left | Promote a paragraph |
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Right | Demote a paragraph |
⌘+Shift+N | Demote to body text |
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Up | Move selected paragraphs up |
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Down | Move selected paragraphs down |
Ctrl+Shift++ (Plus sign) | Expand text under a heading |
Ctrl+Shift+- (Minus sign) | Collapse text under a heading |
Ctrl+Shift+A | Expand all body text and headings or collapse all body text |
Ctrl+Shift+L | Show the first line of body text or all body text |
Ctrl+Shift + | Show all headings with the specified heading level |
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13. Review a document | |
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⌘+Option+A | Insert a comment |
⌘+Shift+E | Turn track changes on or off |
Home | Go to the beginning of a comment |
End (The End key is not available on all keyboards) | Go to the end of a comment |
⌘+Home | Go to the beginning of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane |
⌘+End | Go to the end of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane |
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14. Print a document | |
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⌘+P | Print a document |
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15. Move around in a table | |
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Tab (If the cursor is in the last cell of a table, pressing Tab adds a new row) | Move to the next cell |
Shift+Tab | Move to the preceding cell |
Arrow Up or Arrow Down | Move to the preceding or next row |
Ctrl+Home | Move to the first cell in the row |
Ctrl+End | Move to the last cell in the row |
Ctrl+Page Up | Move to the first cell in the column |
Ctrl+Page Down | Move to the last cell in the column |
Return | Start a new paragraph |
Tab at the end of the last row. | Add a new row at the bottom of the table |
Return at the beginning of the first cell | Add text before a table at the beginning of a document |
⌘+Ctrl+I | Insert a row |
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16. Resize table columns by using the ruler | |
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Shift | Move a single column line; Retain table width. |
⌘+Shift | Equally resize all columns to the right; Retain table width. |
⌘ | Proportionally resize all columns to the right; Retain table width. |
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17. Resize table columns directly in a table. | |
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To display a column's measurements in the ruler when you resize the column, press Option with these shortcut keys. To finely adjust a column width, turn off snap-to functionality by pressing Option with the shortcut keys. | |
No key | Move a single column line; Retain table width. |
Shift | Retain column sizes to the right; Change table width. |
⌘+Shift | Equally resize all columns to the right; Retain table width. |
⌘ | Proportionally resize all columns to the right; Retain table width. |
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18. Insert paragraphs and tab characters in a table | |
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Return | Insert a new paragraph in a cell |
Option+Tab | Insert a Tab character in a cell |
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19. Use footnotes and endnotes | |
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⌘+Option+F | Insert a footnote |
⌘+Option+E | Insert an endnote |
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20. Right-to-left language features | |
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Ctrl+⌘+Arrow Left | Paragraph direction to right to left |
Ctrl+⌘+Arrow Right | Paragraph direction to left to right |
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21. Function key shortcuts | |
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Word 2016 for Mac uses the function keys for common commands, including Copy and Paste. For quick access to these shortcuts, you can change your Apple system preferences so you don't have to press the Fn key every time you use a function key shortcut. | |
F1 | Undo the last action |
F2 | Cut selected text or graphics |
F3 | Copy selected text or graphics to the clipboard |
F4 | Paste the Clipboard contents |
F5 | Choose the Go To command (Edit menu) |
F7 | Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box |
F8 | Extend a selection |
F9 | Update selected fields. |
⌘+F6 | Go to the next window |
Shift+F2 | Copy selected text |
Shift+F3 | Change letters to uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case |
Shift+F4 or ⌘+Shift+F4 | Repeat a Find or Go To action |
Shift+F5 | Move to the previous insertion point |
Shift+F7 | Open the Thesaurus pane |
Shift+F8 | Shrink a selection |
Shift+F9 | Switch between a field code and its result. |
Shift+F11 | Go to the previous field |
⌘+F3 | Cut the selection to the Spike |
⌘+F4 | Close the window |
⌘+F6 | Go to the next window |
⌘+F9 | Insert an empty field |
⌘+F11 | Lock a field |
⌘+Shift+F3 | Insert the contents of the Spike |
⌘+Shift+F5 | Edit a bookmark |
⌘+Shift+F7 | Update linked information in a Word source document |
⌘+Shift+F8+ Arrow Key | Extend a selection as a block selection |
⌘+Shift+F9 | Unlink a field |
⌘+Shift+F11 | Unlock a field |
Option+F3 | Create an AutoText entry |
Option+F7 | Find the next misspelling or grammatical error |
Option+F8 | Run a macro |
Option+F9 | Switch between all field codes and their results |
⌘+Shift+L | Look up selected text on the Internet |
Option+Shift+F9 | Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results |
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