Word document deleted itself when saving

[Akavit]

Now that you have the file, start keeping proper backups.  For the most important work, I'll often save as a new version for each new day.  Drive space is cheap and Word documents take very little room.

You'll want to store copies on a separate drive and/or online backup to protect against drive failures, fires, etc.

[Kaesekopf]

Dropbox is good for backups.

USB flash drives are dirt cheap. 

Make backups often. 

[Lynne]

Dropbox is good for backups.

USB flash drives are dirt cheap. 

Make backups often.

I like BackBlaze which backs up to the cloud, automatically (which means I don't need to remember to do it) 

[EcceQuamBonum]

Dropbox is good for backups.

USB flash drives are dirt cheap. 

Make backups often.

Also, ingratiate yourself with the NSA. I'm sure they have a record of your every keystroke and would be more than happy to do you a solid in the future.