Question: A very important (30+ hrs. of work) Text Edit rtf. Document suddenly disappeared from desktop after opening it!

I have been working on a translation with a tight deadline; non-stop working for 5 days all day, everyday.
I boarded a plane today, and before take-off, I took my computer out to continue working on the document. 

**The document/file was saved on my desktop.** **I open it**, and scroll through it. Then I open another file, and another photograph file (all were saved on the Desktop)... **All of a sudden, my translation 16 page document FILE IS GONE**. 
Literally gone and disappeared like it never existed! The document was gone, the icon on the desktop was gone... everything!
I tried checking in Trash, nothing. I checked "Open Recent" in Text Edit, and older documents were there, but no sign of my translation document. 
I searched my entire computer. Nothing. It's like as if it never existed and this is tearing me apart. 

I can't write to my job commission that, "hey my computer had a technical glitch and my file disappeared"... and this job is very important to me, as it will pay some important bills and I am really devastated about this setback and all the hard work I poured into this translation and now its just simply gone?? How on earth can this be?!! I really truly and deeply appreciate anyone who can help me out... thanks so much.

Answer: 
**Local Time Machine snapshot**

If you enabled Time Machine and didn't disable local snapshots in the past (but can't back up your files at the moment because the backup volume is at home/elsewhere) you should be able to find the file in the local Time Machine snapshot.

* Open Time Machine
* In the "Star Wars" display navigate to your desktop folder
* White/purple ticks at the right side indicate local snapshots/snapshots on the Time Machine backup volume
* Use the white ticks to search for your lost document

**Containers**

A second place to find the file - independent of any backups - may be:

```
/Users/your_user_name/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Autosave Information/

```
If you don't have Time Machine or other live backup software, you might be out of luck. However, there are still things you can try.

If you have access to a second Mac, use that instead. The more you do on your Mac, the more likely that you accidentally overwrite the lost file. Then use a Firewire, Thunderbolt, or [USB-C cable](http://www.macworld.com/article/2911813/got-a-new-macbook-usb-target-disk-mode-works-with-the-right-cable-which-apple-doesnt-sell.html) (depending on model) to put your Mac into [Target Disk Mode](https://www.google.com/search?q=Mac+Target+Disk+Mode), allowing you to access the hard drive more safely from the other Mac.

In any case, if you're 100% sure you've searched the entire contents of the hard drive, then it's time to try a [file recovery utility](https://www.google.com/search?q=Mac%20data%20recovery%20software). Ideally you'd download it on another Mac, then run it from Target Disk Mode or at least a USB stick. Nevertheless, even if you only have one computer, you may as well download it and cross your fingers.