Abstract: A frame alignment word has N predetermined bits distributed in the frame of a digital transmission signal. Each frame is divided into a number of sectors. Each sector has a heading made up of a bit or a bit group from the alignment word such that when placed end to end the headings in the frame form the alignment word. According to a frame alignment recovery method, bit groups are successively taken from the digital signal received at the sector frequency, each taken group having a maximum bit number equal to the bit number in each heading. The taken bit groups are compared with the heading bits corresponding in the frame alignment word and N-1 circular permutations thereof. The comparison are halted before reaching the full alignment word once the comparison of bits between the heading bits and taken successive groups reveals some disagreement.