Do you see this when you open the document by double-clicking its icon? If you start Word first and then open the document via File | Open, then does it display in a readable format?

If using the Open dialog box works, then something has happened with the filename extension for the problem file. You should be able to resave in Word format and then just delete the original file.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thanks for your reply Stefan.
Same result either way lm afraid sir. Via opening word then the file or double clicking on its icon it appears as in my original cry for help.

Have you tried Open and Repair then? In the File | Open dialog box, select the file and, click the arrow on the Open button, and finally click Open and Repair.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Did that Stephan. Just the same. AGHHHHHHH!!!

Too bad. :-( To me, the "codes" displayed in the file look like RTF, so I was hoping it would be possible to recover the text.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thinking about it, have you tried Recover Text from Any File then?

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional