Get Rid of corrupt Excel File

Summary: What to do when an Excel file is corrupted? This is a common question that is often asked by Microsoft Excel users. If you too are seeking an answer to this question, read the blog to learn about a few manual workarounds and a specialized Excel file repair tool to resolve the Excel file corruption issue.

An Excel file gets corrupted due to various reasons such as a virus/malware attack, sudden system shutdown when the Excel file is still open, power failure while working with an Excel spreadsheet, etc.

When Microsoft Excel detects corruption in a workbook, it attempts to repair the workbook by starting ‘File Recovery mode’.

Tip! If the file recovery mode doesn’t start, you may use the manual repair process or an Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair a corrupted Excel file. The software can help you quickly retrieve contents from a damaged, corrupt, or inaccessible Excel file and restore the file to its original state.

There even exist a few manual tips that can be used to recover data from damaged MS Office Excel files.

Workarounds to Use When an Excel File is Corrupted

Note: Before carrying out any of the repair and recovery workarounds, it is advised that you must save a backup copy of the damaged file. This is to prevent your files from turning completely inaccessible in case the methods fail to give desired results.

Workaround 1: Use the Open and Repair Method

If MS Excel cannot repair a corrupted workbook automatically, you can try to do it manually. To do so, perform the following:

• Open the corrupt file, like you normally open any file, by clicking File > Open.
• Browse and locate the folder containing the corrupted document.
• When the Open dialog box is displayed:
• Select the Excel document.
• Click on the arrow present to the right side of the Open button and select Open and Repair option.

Figure 1 – Open and Repair Feature

If this doesn’t help repair the broken Excel file or you encounter  Open and Repair does not work issue, proceed with the next workaround.

Tip! Try an alternative solution, i.e. Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair and recover corrupt Excel files (.xlsx or .xls) when the ‘Open and Repair’ method won’t work.  

Workaround 2: Restore an Excel File with a Shadow Copy

If you’re a Windows 7 or Vista user, you can try restoring the corrupted spreadsheet by using a shadow copy (or a previous version). [Shadow copy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy#:~:text=Shadow%20Copy%20(also%20known%20as,the%20Volume%20Shadow%20Copy%20service .) is basically a snapshot (backup copy) of computer files or volumes. The snapshot may contain an older version of your Excel file that has become damaged now. To find out, do the following:

• Launch File Explorer, and right-click the folder in which the file is saved.
• Choose Properties.
• Look for and click the Previous Versions tab. This will display a list of entries under Folder versions or File versions, going back a few days or weeks.
• Double-click one with a date when the file was accessible and could be read. Then, try to open its older version. If it opens, save the older version with a new name and execute the procedure with new file/folder entries.

Figure 2 – Volume Shadow Copy

You would have to repeat the process until you reach the point where the file became damaged. With this, you will get a baseline version of the file, but data may still have been lost.

Workaround 3: Test your Assumptions

If you receive a message saying “Excel file corrupted and cannot be opened”, you would probably believe it. However, there could be other reasons besides corruption that may cause Excel to throw this error message.

Your Office suite, which Excel is a part of, maybe having some primary issues in it causing problems while opening one Excel document. So, try opening another Excel file to check if the problem exists with all the files or just one.

If other Excel documents work correctly, it means that only the particular document is corrupt. On the contrary, if the issue is with your Office suite, repairing the current Office installation may help fix the issue. For this, perform these steps:

• Go to Control Panel and click Uninstall the Program.
• Choose Office.
• Click Change, and hit the Repair button.

You can reinstall the entire Office package. Once reinstalled, try to open the file to check if the issue has been fixed and the Excel file repaired.

Figure 3 – MS Office Repair

Workaround 4: Use Excel File Repair Tool

If the above manual solutions fail, use Excel repair software to successfully repair your damaged Excel workbook and recover all its data. Essentially, the software rebuilds damaged Excel workbook data at a granular level to recover every single object & all the original properties of the workbook.

Suggested Read: How to repair corrupt Excel files using Stellar Repair for Excel?

Why Use Stellar Repair for Excel Software?

• Repairs severely corrupted XLSX and XLS files.
• Can handle corrupt Excel files of any size.
• Demo version allows previewing recoverable Excel file items for free.
• Supports Microsoft Excel 2019 and all lower versions.
• Compatible with Windows 10 and lower versions.
• Tested and recommended by Microsoft Excel MVPs.

Final Word

When an Excel file is corrupted, it won’t open at all or you won’t be able to access all the file data. Such a situation can lead to unnecessary halts, impacting work productivity.

There are manual workarounds that may help fix the corrupt Excel file and recover its data, such as the ones covered in this blog. However, these solutions might not work in severe corruption cases and may require technical assistance. Also, they may result in some data loss.

To overcome the limitations of manual workarounds, it is recommended to go for a professional Excel file repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel . It helps repair corrupt Excel (XLS or XLSX) files and restores all worksheet data, such as the table, chart, chart sheet, cell comment, sort and filter, image, formula, etc. in a few simple clicks. Moreover, the software provides a free preview of the recoverable data with its demo version. You can check the preview to evaluate how the software works.

How to Repair Corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel File?

Summary: If you are not able to perform any action on the Pivot Table of MS Excel file, it indicates Excel Pivot Table corruption. In such a case, you must repair the corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel file by using an Excel repair software or manual troubleshooting steps discussed in this post.

MS Excel is equipped with several brilliant features and functions which make working with large volumes of data easy. In addition to helping users save data into well-organized cells and tables, the application helps users draw inferences from the data. Pivot Table is one such Excel feature that helps users extract the gist from a large number of rowed data. But often, the Pivot table may get corrupted and lead to unexpected errors or data loss.

Corrupt Pivot Tables can stop users from reopening previously saved Excel workbooks, raising the serious issue of data inaccessibility. Resolving such issues is an uphill task unless one gets to the actual root cause of the problem.

However, with Stellar Repair for Excel software, you can repair the corrupt Pivot table of MS Excel file while keeping the Excel file data, formatting, layout, etc. intact.

Excel Pivot Tables & Associated Problems

Pivot Tables in Microsoft Excel are created by applying an operation such as sorting, averaging, or summing to the data in certain tables. The results of the operation are saved as summarized data in other tables. Typically, working on the grouping of saved data, Pivot Tables are used in data processing and are found in data visualization programs, such as spreadsheets or business intelligence software.

Put simply, Pivot Tables in Excel allow you to extract the significance or the gist from a large, detailed data set by allowing you to slice-and-dice data, sort-and-filter data, or arrange it in any way you want.

Frequently Encountered Problems with Pivot Tables in MS Excel

Take a look at the most frequently encountered Pivot Table issues:

• You add new data into a pivot table but it doesn’t show up when you refresh
• Pivot Table contains Blanks instead of Zeros for fields that have no source data
• Automatic field names assigned by the Pivot Table can be inappropriate
• It doesn’t directly show the percentage of total
• Grouping one pivot table affects another
• Your number of formatting gets lost
• Refreshing a pivot table messes up column widths
• Field headings make no sense and add clutter

While some of the above problems seem minute and can easily be resolved using a few tweaks, bigger issues like unexpected Pivot Table error messages that an Excel throws can be troublesome.

Pivot Table Errors & Their Reasons

Excel users who have built new Pivot Tables in Excel often report the following errors when trying to reopen a previously saved workbook:

We found a problem with some content in . Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes.

Naturally, users are prompted to click on ‘Yes’. But when they do, they get another error message saying:

Removed Part: /xl/pivotCache/pivotCacheDefinition1.xml part with XML error

(PivotTable cache) Load error. Line 2, column 0

Removed Feature: PivotTable report from /xl/pivotTables/pivotTable1.xml part (PivotTable view)

Such errors are indicative of the fact that the data within the Pivot Table still exists, but the table itself isn’t functioning anymore.

There could be two primary reasons behind such behavior:

• You’ve created the Pivot Table in an older version of Excel but are trying to open-refresh-save it through a newer Excel version
• The Pivot Table itself is corrupted

How to Repair the Pivot Table Quickly?

To solve the errors associated with Pivot Tables, you need to repair them. But Microsoft doesn’t offer any inbuilt technique or option to repair Pivot Tables. Thus, to fix the issue, you either need some sort of workaround or an Excel file repair software .

Methods to Fix Corrupt Pivot Table in MS Excel

Though there aren’t many options to fix the Pivot Table, you can follow these workarounds to try and repair a corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel. However, before following these steps, create a backup copy of your Excel file.

Method 1: Open MS Excel in Safe Mode

First, try opening the Excel file in safe mode  and then check if you can access the Pivot Table. If you can, save all its contents to a new Pivot Table in the latest version of Excel so that this problem doesn’t arise anymore.

Method 2: Use Pivot Table Options

If, however, above method doesn’t work, follow the below-mentioned steps:

• Right-click on the Pivot Table and click on Pivot Table Options
• On the Display tab, clear the checkbox labeled “Show Properties in ToolTips”
• Save the file (.xls, .xlsx) with the new settings intact

Method 3: Make Changes to Pivot Table

If the above method or steps didn’t work,

• Try opening the Pivot Table Options window by right-clicking on the Pivot Table within your Excel file
• Select Pivot Table Options from the pop-up menu and make appropriate changes to the options given there
• Then check if the issues go away

Method 4: Check and Set Data Source

If the problem in the Pivot table is related to data refresh,

• Go to Analyze > Change Data Source
• Check if the data source is set properly
• Also, try reselecting the data source and check if the refresh option is working properly

If not, resorting to Stellar Repair for Excel software might be your only hope.

Excel Pivot Table Repair by Using Excel Repair Software

When corruption strikes an Excel Pivot Table and no manual trick work, Stellar Repair for Excel  is the best solution. This easy-to-use Excel Repair software repairs even the most severely corrupted Excel (XLS/XLSX) files to restore all data, properties, formatting, and preferences. It enables users to extract their saved data into new blank Excel files.

If you have this utility by your side, you don’t need to think twice about any Excel error.

What customer says about the Excel Repair Software?

Spiceworks

CNET

Conclusion

Excel Pivot Table corruption may occur due to any unexpected errors or reasons. This can lead to inaccurate observation in data analysis and also cause data loss if not fixed quickly. However, you can prevent data loss due to problems caused by Pivot Table corruption by keeping a backup of all your critical Excel files and fix the Pivot Table corruption by using proper tools, such as Excel file repair software, that can help you get over any Excel corruption and errors quickly.

[Solved] : How to Fix MS Excel Crash Issue

Microsoft Excel may stop responding , hang, freeze, or stop working due to several reasons, such as in compatible add-ins. In such a case, you may receive one of the following error messages.

• Excel has stopped working

• Excel is not responding

• A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

Why Does Excel Keep Crashing?

If Excel keeps crashing on your PC while opening a workbook, saving Excel file, scrolling or editing cells, etc., it indicates a problem with your Excel program or the Excel file.

Microsoft Excel may crash due to any one or more reasons given below,

•  Incompatible Add-Ins
• Outdated MS Excel program
• Conflict with other programs or antivirus tool
•  Excel file created by third party software
• Problem with network connection
•  Combination of Cell formatting and stylings
• Problem with MS Office installation
• Partially damaged or corrupt Excel file

Problems Caused by Excel Crash Issue

Microsoft Excel crash may cause damage to Excel file and also lead to Excel (XLS/XLSX) file corruption.

Such corrupt Excel files can’t be opened or accessed via MS Excel app. If you try to access a corrupt Excel file, MS Excel may fail to open the file or stop responding and crash. Additionally, you may receive the following or similar error message,

In such a case, you should immediately try to recover the Excel file. You may do so by restoring the Excel file from backup or by using an Excel File Repair software. Otherwise, continue following this guide.

How to Solve Excel Crash Issue?

Before heading to solutions, follow these troubleshooting steps to resolve the Excel Crash issue.

Step 1: Copy File to Local Drive

If you are trying to access and edit or view an Excel file from a network drive, try moving the file to local drive. This will help you find if there is something wrong with the file or the network.

Step 2: Ensure Sufficient Memory

Excel files can grow fairly large when you start adding lots of formatting and shapes. Make sure that your system has enough RAM to run the application.

If you often work with large Excel files and complex data values& formulas, then install 64-bit versions of MS Office. It will give you an advantage of larger processing capacities and prevent Excel from crash or freeze.

Step 3: Check If Excel is Open and In Use by Another Process

Open Task Manager and close all processes or apps (tasks) that may be using or have access to your Excel file that you are working on. You can find this detail in status bar of Excel program at the bottom of program window.

After closing the tasks, try to access the Excel file and check if this fixes the performance and crash problem in Excel.

Step 4: Test and Repair Excel File

Create a copy of the Excel file and install Stellar Repair for Excel software. It’s free to download. Scan and repair your Excel file using the software. After repair, save the Excel file at your desired location and then open the Excel file in the MS Excel program.

This should ideally fix all the issues with Excel.

However, if the Excel program still crashes, the problem lies within the system or program. Follow the solutions discussed in this guide to try to fix the Excel crash issue.

NOTE: To save repaired Excel file using the mentioned software, you must purchase the activation key and activate it.

Solutions to Fix MS Excel Crash Issue

Following are some solutions to resolve problems with MS Excel such as,

• Excel not responding
• Excel won’t open
• Excel keeps crashing

Follow these solutions in the given order. In case a method doesn’t work, move to the next one.

Solution 1: Restart Excel in Safe Mode

By starting MS Excel in safe mode, you can run the program without loading the Excel add-ins and with limited features. But COM add-ins are excluded.

To launch Excel in safe mode, close MS Excel and follow these steps,

• Create a shortcut of MS Excel (.exe) on Desktop
• Press and hold the Ctrl key while launching the program
• Click ‘Yes’ when a prompt appears to confirm

Alternatively, press Windows+R, type excel /safe and press ‘Enter’. Use this to open Excel in safe mode on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, or 7 system.

Now try to open and access the Excel file and check if the issue is resolved. If it’s not, head on to the next solution.

Solution 2: Check and Remove Faulty Add-ins

In case Excel doesn’t crash in Safe Mode, it’s possible that some faulty add-ins are the culprit behind frequent Excel crash and freeze. These Excel add-ins may interfere or conflict with the Excel program.

Find and remove the faulty add-in. It can resolve the issue. To do so, follow these steps,

• Restart Excel in normal mode and go to File> Options> Add-ins
• Choose COM Add-ins from the drop-down and click Go

• Uncheck all the checkboxes and click OK

• Restart Excel and check if the issue is resolved
•  If Excel doesn’t crash or freeze anymore, open COM Add-ins and enable one add-in at a time followed by Excel restart. Then observe Excel for freeze or crash problem

This will help you find out the faulty add-in, which is causing the problem. Remove the add-in which is causing the problem to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t fix, move to the next solution.

Solution 3: Check and Install the Latest Updates

If you haven’t set Windows to Download and Install Updates automatically, do it now.

Apart from updating the operating system, latest Windows updates sometimes fixes bugs for other applications installed on the system such as MS Office. Often installing an important update that you might have missed may correct the Excel crash problem.

You can also update MS Office manually. Follow these steps,

Go to File > Account

 Under Product Information, select Update Options and click Update Now

If you have installed MS Excel from Microsoft Store, open the store and update your Office applications.

NOTE: This also works if you can’t open Excel file or Excel crashes after Windows upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to Windows 10.

After installing the latest MS Office updates, check if Excel works fine. If not, head to the next solution.

Solution 4: Clear Conditional Formatting Rules

If a sheet is causing Excel to freeze or crash, there might be a problem with that particular sheet. In such a case, you may try clearing the Conditional Formatting rules. The steps are as follows,

• Under Home, click ‘Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules> Clear Rules from Entire Sheet’

• You may repeat this step for all other sheets in the Excel workbook
• Then click File> Save as and save the Sheet as a new file at a different location

This avoids overwriting or making changes to the original Excel file. Once done, try working on the sheet.

If this doesn’t work out, move to the next solution.

Solution 5: Remove Multiple Cell Formatting and Styles

If a workbook is being shared and edited by others on different platforms then it’s possible that many cells are formatted differently. This can cause issues with Excel such as crash and freeze. It can also lead to Excel file corruption. The problem mostly occurs when a workbook contains multiple worksheets using different formatting.

You can follow this guide to remove different cell formats and styles, and then open the Excel file.

Solution 6: Disable Microsoft Excel Animation

Animations require additional processing power and resources. By disabling animations in Excel, you may resolve Excel freeze and crash issue. This also improves MS Excel performance.

To disable the animations in MS Excel, follow these steps:

• Go to File > Options
• Click ‘Advanced’ and check ‘Disable hardware graphics acceleration’animation

• Click ‘OK’ to close the window and then restart MS Excel

This has helped many users in fixing the Excel crash issue. If it doesn’t work for you, head to the next solution.

Solution 7: Check If Excel File is Generated by a Third-Party Application

There are applications which you may have used to generate Excel files to fetch data. For instance, downloading data from Google Analytics in Excel format.

Sometimes, these Excel files are not generated correctly by such third-party apps. Thus, some features in Excel may not work as intended when you access the files in MS Excel.

In such a case, you should get in touch with the app developer for help with the file or use Stellar Repair for Excel to repair such Excel files.

Solution 8: Check If Antivirus or Other Apps are Conflicting with MS Excel

Ensure your antivirus is up-to-date and not conflicting with MS Excel. An outdated antivirus tool may conflict with Excel which can cause the application to hang, freeze, or crash.

• Update your antivirus
• Try disabling the add-in or integration between Excel and antivirus. See if it works

Alternatively, you may disable the anti-virus tool temporarily to check if it is the culprit behind Excel performance issue and crash. If that resolves the problem, get in touch with your antivirus vendor and report the problem.

They might provide you with a better solution or workaround to fix this problem without disabling the antivirus protection.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Disabling or altering antivirus protection makes your PC vulnerable to malicious attacks and virus or malware intrusion.

Solution 9: Clean Boot Windows to Inspect the Cause Behind Excel Crash

When Windows boot, it starts several processes, services, and application during start up automatically, which runs in the background.

These startup apps and services can interfere with other applications such as MS Excel. To find out if that’s the cause behind Excel crash, you can perform a Clean Boot.

This helps you identify processes, services, or applications that are conflicting with Excel. Steps to perform Clean Boot are as follows,

• Press Windows key + R, type MSConfig, and press ‘Enter’
• In System Configuration window, click on the General tab and choose Selective startup

Uncheck ‘Load startup items’ and click ‘OK’

After this, close all running applications and restart your PC

Check if the crash problem with Excel is resolved. Uninstall the conflicting apps or update them. If your issue is not resolved, follow the next solution.

Solution 10: Repair or Reinstall MS Office

Repairing Office programs may also resolve Excel crash issues if caused by damaged MS Excel program or MS Office files. The steps are as follow,

• Close all MS Office apps and open the Control Panel
• Click Uninstall a program under Programs

• Click on Microsoft Office and then click on the Change option
• Choose ‘Quick repair’ and then select ‘Repair’
• Click ‘Continue’ to repair MS Office installation

You may also try ‘Online Repair’ if this fails to fix the issue. After repair, if the Excel issue persists, reinstall MS Office.

Need More Help?

If none of the above-mentioned solutions worked for you, it indicates that the problem is not with the Excel program but with the Excel file. If you haven’t tried the Stellar Repair for Excel software, do it now.

Select the Excel file which is causing the problem and repair it with the software. It’s a powerful Excel repair software that can fix all the problems with Excel files (XLS/XLSX). It repairs corrupt and severely damaged Excel files.

The software is compatible with all Excel files created using MS Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 or 2000.

After repairing and saving the Excel file, you can open it in your MS Excel program and work on it without any performance issue. To know more about this software, visit this page.

Get Rid of corrupt Excel File

Summary: What to do when an Excel file is corrupted? This is a common question that is often asked by Microsoft Excel users. If you too are seeking an answer to this question, read the blog to learn about a few manual workarounds and a specialized Excel file repair tool to resolve the Excel file corruption issue.

An Excel file gets corrupted due to various reasons such as a virus/malware attack, sudden system shutdown when the Excel file is still open, power failure while working with an Excel spreadsheet, etc.

When Microsoft Excel detects corruption in a workbook, it attempts to repair the workbook by starting ‘File Recovery mode’.

Tip! If the file recovery mode doesn’t start, you may use the manual repair process or an Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair a corrupted Excel file. The software can help you quickly retrieve contents from a damaged, corrupt, or inaccessible Excel file and restore the file to its original state.

There even exist a few manual tips that can be used to recover data from damaged MS Office Excel files.

Workarounds to Use When an Excel File is Corrupted

Note: Before carrying out any of the repair and recovery workarounds, it is advised that you must save a backup copy of the damaged file. This is to prevent your files from turning completely inaccessible in case the methods fail to give desired results.

Workaround 1: Use the Open and Repair Method

If MS Excel cannot repair a corrupted workbook automatically, you can try to do it manually. To do so, perform the following:

• Open the corrupt file, like you normally open any file, by clicking File > Open.
• Browse and locate the folder containing the corrupted document.
• When the Open dialog box is displayed:
• Select the Excel document.
• Click on the arrow present to the right side of the Open button and select Open and Repair option.

Figure 1 – Open and Repair Feature

If this doesn’t help repair the broken Excel file or you encounter  Open and Repair does not work issue, proceed with the next workaround.

Tip! Try an alternative solution, i.e. Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair and recover corrupt Excel files (.xlsx or .xls) when the ‘Open and Repair’ method won’t work.  

Workaround 2: Restore an Excel File with a Shadow Copy

If you’re a Windows 7 or Vista user, you can try restoring the corrupted spreadsheet by using a shadow copy (or a previous version). [Shadow copy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy#:~:text=Shadow%20Copy%20(also%20known%20as,the%20Volume%20Shadow%20Copy%20service .) is basically a snapshot (backup copy) of computer files or volumes. The snapshot may contain an older version of your Excel file that has become damaged now. To find out, do the following:

• Launch File Explorer, and right-click the folder in which the file is saved.
• Choose Properties.
• Look for and click the Previous Versions tab. This will display a list of entries under Folder versions or File versions, going back a few days or weeks.
• Double-click one with a date when the file was accessible and could be read. Then, try to open its older version. If it opens, save the older version with a new name and execute the procedure with new file/folder entries.

Figure 2 – Volume Shadow Copy

You would have to repeat the process until you reach the point where the file became damaged. With this, you will get a baseline version of the file, but data may still have been lost.

Workaround 3: Test your Assumptions

If you receive a message saying “Excel file corrupted and cannot be opened”, you would probably believe it. However, there could be other reasons besides corruption that may cause Excel to throw this error message.

Your Office suite, which Excel is a part of, maybe having some primary issues in it causing problems while opening one Excel document. So, try opening another Excel file to check if the problem exists with all the files or just one.

If other Excel documents work correctly, it means that only the particular document is corrupt. On the contrary, if the issue is with your Office suite, repairing the current Office installation may help fix the issue. For this, perform these steps:

• Go to Control Panel and click Uninstall the Program.
• Choose Office.
• Click Change, and hit the Repair button.

You can reinstall the entire Office package. Once reinstalled, try to open the file to check if the issue has been fixed and the Excel file repaired.

Figure 3 – MS Office Repair

Workaround 4: Use Excel File Repair Tool

If the above manual solutions fail, use Excel repair software to successfully repair your damaged Excel workbook and recover all its data. Essentially, the software rebuilds damaged Excel workbook data at a granular level to recover every single object & all the original properties of the workbook.

Suggested Read: How to repair corrupt Excel files using Stellar Repair for Excel?

Why Use Stellar Repair for Excel Software?

• Repairs severely corrupted XLSX and XLS files.
• Can handle corrupt Excel files of any size.
• Demo version allows previewing recoverable Excel file items for free.
• Supports Microsoft Excel 2019 and all lower versions.
• Compatible with Windows 10 and lower versions.
• Tested and recommended by Microsoft Excel MVPs.

Final Word

When an Excel file is corrupted, it won’t open at all or you won’t be able to access all the file data. Such a situation can lead to unnecessary halts, impacting work productivity.

There are manual workarounds that may help fix the corrupt Excel file and recover its data, such as the ones covered in this blog. However, these solutions might not work in severe corruption cases and may require technical assistance. Also, they may result in some data loss.

To overcome the limitations of manual workarounds, it is recommended to go for a professional Excel file repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel . It helps repair corrupt Excel (XLS or XLSX) files and restores all worksheet data, such as the table, chart, chart sheet, cell comment, sort and filter, image, formula, etc. in a few simple clicks. Moreover, the software provides a free preview of the recoverable data with its demo version. You can check the preview to evaluate how the software works.

[Fixed] Excel VBA Runtime Error 9: Subscript Out of Range

Summary: The runtime error 9 in Excel usually occurs when you use different objects in a code or the object you are trying to use is not defined. This post will discuss the reasons behind the Excel VBA error “Subscript out of Range” and the solutions to resolve the issue. It will also mention an Excel repair tool that can help fix the error if it occurs due to corruption in worksheet.

Many users have reported encountering the error “Subscript out of range” (runtime error 9) when using VBA code in Excel. The error often occurs when the object you are referring to in a code is not available, deleted, or not defined earlier. Sometimes, it occurs if you have declared an array in code but forgot to specify the DIM or ReDIM statement to define the length of array.

Causes of VBA Runtime Error 9: Subscript Out Of Range

The error ‘Subscript out of range’ in Excel can occur due to several reasons, such as:

• Object you are trying to use in the VBA code is not defined earlier or is deleted.
• Entered a wrong declaration syntax of the array.
• Wrong spelling of the variable name.
• Referenced a wrong array element.
• Entered incorrect name of the worksheet you are trying to refer.
• Worksheet you trying to call in the code is not available.
• Specified an invalid element.
• Not specified the number of elements in an array.
• Workbook in which you trying to use VBA is corrupted.

Methods to Fix Excel VBA Error ‘Subscript out of Range’

Following are some workarounds you can try to fix the runtime error 9 in Excel.

Method 1: Check the Name of Worksheet in the Code

Sometimes, Excel throws the runtime error 9: Subscript out of range if the name of the worksheet is not defined correctly in the code. For example – When trying to copy content from one Excel sheet (emp) to another sheet (emp2) via VBA code, you have mistakenly mentioned wrong name of the worksheet (see the below code).

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Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Worksheets("emp").Range("A1:E5").Select
Selection.Copy
Worksheets("emp3").Activate
Worksheets("emp3").Range("A1:E5").Select
ActiveSheet.Paste
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub

When you run the above code, the Excel will throw the Subscript out of range error.

So, check the name of the worksheet and correct it. Here are the steps:

• Go to the Design tab in the Developer section.
• Double-click on the Command button.
• Check and modify the worksheet name (e.g. from “emp” to “emp2”).

• Now run the code.
• The content in ‘emp’ worksheet will be copied to ‘emp2’ (see below).

Method 2: Check the Range of the Array

The VBA error “Subscript out of range” also occurs if you have declared an array in a code but didn’t specify the number of elements. For example – If you have declared an array and forgot to declare the array variable with elements, you will get the error (see below):

To fix this, specify the array variable:

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Sub FillArray()
Dim curExpense(364) As Currency
Dim intI As Integer
For intI = 0 to 364
curExpense(intI) = 20
Next
End Sub

Method 3: Change Macro Security Settings

The Runtime error 9: Subscript out of range can also occur if there is an issue with the macros or macros are disabled in the Macro Security Settings. In such a case, you can check and change the macro settings. Follow these steps:

• Open your Microsoft Excel.
• Navigate to File > Options > Trust Center.
• Under Trust Center, select Trust Center Settings.
• Click Macro Settings, select Enable all macros, and then click OK.

Method 4: Repair your Excel File

The name or format of the Excel file or name of the objects may get changed due to corruption in the file. When the objects are not identified in a VBA code, you may encounter the Subscript out of range error. You can use the Open and Repair utility in Excel to repair the corrupted file. To use this utility, follow these steps:

• In your MS Excel, click File > Open.
• Browse to the location where the affected file is stored.
• In the Open dialog box, select the corrupted workbook.
• In the Open dropdown, click on Open and Repair.
• You will see a prompt asking you to repair the file or extract data from it.
• Click on the Repair option to extract the data as much as possible. If Repair button fails, then click Extract button to recover data without formulas and values.

If the “Open and Repair” utility fails to repair the corrupted/damaged macro-enabled Excel file, then try an advanced Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. It can easily repair severely corrupted Excel workbook and recover all the items, including macros, cell comments, table, charts, etc. with 100% integrity. The tool is compatible with all versions of Microsoft Excel.

Conclusion

You may experience the “Subscript out of range” error while using VBA in Excel. You can follow the workarounds discussed in this blog to fix the error. If the Excel file is corrupt, then you can use Stellar Repair for Excel to repair the file. It’s a powerful software that can help fix all the issues that occur due to corruption in the Excel file. It helps to recover all the data from the corrupt Excel files (.xls, .xlsx, .xltm, .xltx, and .xlsm) without changing the original formatting. The tool supports Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, and older versions.

Excel Stuck at Opening File 0% - Resolve Performance Issues

Summary: If an Excel workbook is stuck at opening file 0%, it usually indicates a problem with the Excel file and its objects. This may happen due to Excel file corruption and a few other reasons. In this post, we have discussed these reasons along with the methods to fix and prevent ‘Excel stuck at opening file 0%’ issue.

When you open an Excel file (XLS/XLSX) in MS Excel, the program reads and then loads the file data along with all its objects and properties. While opening and loading an Excel file, MS Excel displays an “Opening percentage.” You won’t usually notice or see this Excel file opening progress percentage while accessing smaller worksheets.

It’s more noticeable when you open a large Excel file or workbook with multiple objects, formulae, formatting, etc. However, after opening an Excel file with double-click, if it is stuck at Splash Screen with a message “Opening: FileName.xlsx (0%)” for a while (say 15-30 minutes) and does not progress, it indicates a problem with the Excel file, MS Excel program, or the system.  

Why Excel is Stuck at Opening File 0%?

If you have encountered this error, it may happen due to one of the following issues,

1. Damaged or corrupt Excel file
2. Incompatible or faulty Excel add-ins
3. Problem with the system’s display driver
4. Damaged MS Office (Excel) application

Methods to Fix ‘Excel Stuck at Opening File 0%’ Issue

Before fixing and troubleshooting the problem, check and confirm if the Excel file is working and not corrupt. For this, you can try opening it on another PC. Now there could be two scenarios,

Scenario 1:  Excel File Does Not Open

If the Excel file doesn’t open on another PC also, it indicates Excel file corruption. In such cases, look for the backup copy of the file, if you have downloaded it from an email or a website.

However, if there’s no backup, then you need an Excel file repair software, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair the corrupt file. This software preserves Excel file properties, such as cell formatting, formula bar, freeze panes, gridlines, etc. and helps you restore the damaged or corrupt worksheets to its original state with 100% integrity.

To repair Excel file, download and launch Stellar Repair for Excel software on your PC, choose the corrupt Excel (XLS/XLSX) file and click ‘Repair’. You can see the preview of your Excel file with all data and then save the repaired file at your desired location on the system as a new Excel file.

Scenario 2: Excel File Is Accessible on Another PC

If the Excel file opens successfully on another PC, then follow the troubleshooting methods below to resolve the Excel file stuck opening at 0%.

Method 1: Open MS Excel in Safe Mode

To check if an incompatible or faulty add-in or setting is causing the error, restart MS Excel in safe mode and then open the worksheet from the MS Excel ‘File’ options. The steps are as follows,

1. Press Windows+R and type excel.exe /safe
2. Hit Enter or press ‘OK’ to open MS Excel in safe mode

• Go to File > Open and then choose the Excel file to open it
• If it opens, the problem is probably caused by the add-ins. Go to File > Options > Add-ins > Manage > COM Add-ins and disable all the third-party add-ins

• Restart MS Excel normally and then go to File > Open and open the same Excel file. If it opens, the problem is solved.

However, if you want to keep the add-ins, enable one add-in at a time and open the same file to find which add-in is causing the problem. When found, remove the faulty add-in.

If it doesn’t work, head to the next solution.

Method 2. Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

If you’re using hardware graphics acceleration adapter to run an external monitor, you may encounter problems with the Excel application. If the adapter is plugged in but doesn’t work correctly, Excel will usually hang on the loading screen. To resolve this problem, you will need to disable the hardware graphics acceleration adapter by following these steps,

• Quit all running instances of Excel from Task Manager

• Launch MS Excel directly, don’t double-click on the faulty workbook file to open MS Excel as it won’t open
• Click on File > Options > Advanced

• Under the ‘Display’ options, check the box ‘Disable hardware graphics acceleration’
• Click on ‘OK’

Try to open the Excel file now. If it still doesn’t work, move to the next solution.

Method 3. Repair MS Excel Application and Install the Latest Updates

Problems within MS Excel installation could also be a source of many unknown issues. Messed up registry settings, bugged updates, and even wrong user ‘Preferences’ can cause your Excel application to behave unusually. The fix for all such issues is to repair the Excel installation. To do so, follow these steps,

• Open Control Panel
• From Category view, under Programs, select Uninstall a program
• Click on the MS Office and then click ‘Change’

• When prompted, click on ‘Repair’ and then follow the instructions to complete the repair process

To update the MS Excel,

• Go to File > Account and click on Update options

• Then click ‘Update’

• MS Excel will start downloading the latest updates and then apply it, which might fix this Excel error

Still, Excel stuck on processing file at 0%? That means the Excel file you’re trying to open is severely corrupted. Thus, as mentioned earlier, use Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair corrupt or damaged Excel (XLS/XLSX) files and restore everything to a new Excel file. With the help of some best-in-class repair algorithms, this software enables you to fix problems within Excel files and recover tables, charts, cell comments, images, formulae, sorts, and filters. It is compatible with MS Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003.

Conclusion

Hopefully, one of the above-mentioned solutions has helped you overcome the “Excel stuck at Opening file 0%” error and Excel hangs on opening file issues. Also, you are able to access your MS Excel worksheet now. If you face any problems with your Excel workbooks in future, remember to get to the root of the issue first. Also, inculcate the habit of backing up your critical files regularly (if possible) and keep products like Stellar Repair for Excel in mind to save the day, when nothing else works.

How to Resolve ‘Excel found unreadable content in filename.xlsx’ Error in MS Excel?

When opening an Excel spreadsheet in MS Office 2010/2007, you may get the following error message:

“Excel found unreadable content in ‘[filename].xlsx’. Do you want to recover the contents of this workbook? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes.”

On clicking ‘Yes’, you may face any of these scenarios:

Note: If you choose to click ‘No’, then open your MS Excel application and click file > Open. When the Open dialog box opens, browse and select the file showing the ‘Excel found unreadable content’ error and then choose ‘Open and Repair’ option. If this didn’t help, try using a third-party Excel repair tool to save time troubleshooting the issue and restoring the file with all its data intact.

Scenario 1: The following message may pop-up.

“Excel was able to open the file by repairing or removing the unreadable content. Excel recovered your formulas and cell values, but

some data may have been lost

. Click to view log file listing repairs errorxxx.xml.”

The message clearly states that your Excel file might open, but images may be lost and other such inconsistencies can crop up.

Scenario 2: The error is followed by another error message, like “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened“.

Watch our short video for a quick overview of the solutions to fix “Excel found unreadable content in filename.xlsx”

What Causes ‘Excel Unreadable Content’ Error?

You may encounter the ‘Excel file unreadable content’ error due to corruption of complete Excel file or corruption in certain areas (like Pivot Table, Formulas, Styles, or other objects) in the file. According to Microsoft, you may find it difficult to determine the root cause behind Excel file corruption. Corruption could occur in different scenarios, like power surge, a network glitch, copying and pasting corrupted data from another file, etc.

Also Read: How to recover data from corrupt or damaged Excel file 2010 & 2007?

Workarounds to Resolve the ‘Excel found unreadable content in filename.xls’ Error

There is no permanent solution to fix the ‘Excel found unreadable content’ error. But, following are some workarounds you can try to resolve the error.

Note: Before you try any of these workarounds, run Excel with administrator privileges and try opening the Excel file that is throwing the ‘unreadable content’ error. If this doesn’t fix the error, proceed with the workarounds below.

Workaround 1 – Try Opening the File in Excel 2003

Sometimes a problem in the current Excel version might prevent a file from opening. To resolve this error, try opening the problematic file in Excel 2003. If the file opens, save the data in a web page file format (.html) and then try opening the .html file in MS Excel 2010/2007. The detailed step-wise instructions are as follows:

• Open the .xls file in Excel 2003.
• When the file opens, click on File > Save.
• In the ‘Save As’ dialog box, choose Web Page (.html) as the ‘Save as type’ and then click ‘Save.’ Doing so will save everything from your .xls file, opened with 2003, in .html file format.
• Open the .html file in Excel 2010/2007. And then, save the file with .xlsx extension with a new name to avoid overwriting the original file.

Now, open the Excel 2010/2007 file and check if the error is fixed. If not, use the next workaround.

Workaround 2 – Make the Excel File ‘Read-only’

Try to open your ‘.xlsx’ file by making it ‘read-only’. Follow these steps:

• In Excel, click ‘File’ from the main menu.
• Select ‘Save’ for a new document or ‘Save As’ for a previously saved document in the screen that appears.

• From the ‘Save As’ dialog box, click Tools > General Options.

• Click on the ‘Read-only recommended’ checkbox to make the document read-only and then click ‘OK’.

Now open a new ‘.xlsx’ file and copy everything from the corrupt Excel file to this new file. Finally, save this file and try to open it again.

Workaround 3 – Move Excel File to a New Folder

Some users have reported that they could open their Excel file, following the ‘Excel unreadable content’ error, by simply moving the file to a different folder and saving it under a new name. You can also move the affected file to a new folder and try opening it. If this didn’t help resolve the error, follow the next workaround.

Workaround 4 – Install Visual Basic Component

At times, it is seen that installing the ‘Visual Basic’ component of MS Office 2010 resolves the ‘Excel found unreadable content 2010’ error. To do so, follow these steps:

• Navigate to Control Panel > Programs and select Microsoft Office 2010.
• Click ‘Change’ and then select ‘Add or Remove Programs’.
• Next, click the ‘plus’ sign provided next to Office Shared Features.
• Click ‘Visual Basic for Applications’. After that, right-click and choose ‘Run from My Computer’ and hit the ‘Continue’ button.
• Reboot your system when this process finishes.

Now check if the issue has been resolved or not.

What Next?

If none of the workarounds mentioned above works for you, use a professional Excel repair software, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. The software repairs corrupt MS Excel sheets without modifying their original content and formatting. In addition, it can repair single or multiple Excel (XLS/XLSX) files in a few simple steps.

Steps to Repair Corrupt Excel File using Stellar Repair for Excel Software

• Install and run Stellar Repair for Excel software.

• From the software main interface window, click ‘Browse’ to select the corrupt file. If you are not aware of the corrupt Excel file location, click on the ‘Search’ button.

• Click on the ‘Repair’ button to scan and repair the selected file.

• A preview window will open with recoverable Excel file data. Once satisfied with the preview result, click on the ‘Save File’ button on the ‘File’ menu to start the repair process.

• Select the destination to save the file.

• Click ‘OK’ when the ‘Repaired file saved successfully’ message appears.

 The repaired Excel file will get saved at the selected location.