Cross-posted at:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...=1414208895700
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When you exit an Office program with a large amount of data on the clipboard, You are asked whether you want to keep the clipboard contents. If you answer no, the clipboard is erased. Copying anything else to the clipboard will also clear the previous contents.
You might be able to recover something via File>Recover Unsaved Documents or by going to Windows Explorer, locating the file, right-clicking on it and choosing Properties>Previous Versions.