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 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”

Click here

## 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.

How Do I Repair and Restore Excel File?

When an Excel file turns corrupt, the file might become inaccessible or you might receive errors. You may encounter errors, such as ‘the file is corrupt and cannot be opened,’ ‘Excel found unreadable content in “filename>”,’ ‘Excel cannot open “filename” because the file format or extension is not valid,’ etc.

Common Reasons for Excel File Corruption

There are several reasons that can turn the file corrupt. The most common reason is a damaged hard drive. Other factors that can cause corruption in an Excel file are as follows:

• System crash or abrupt shutdown of the system while the file is still open
• Viruses infecting the file with malicious code
• Bug in the operating system
• Bad sectors on the drive where the file is stored
• Large spreadsheets with formulas and other components

Whatever be the reason, if your business is dependent on an Excel file, corruption in the file could hamper your business continuity. Also, you may lose crucial data. In such a situation, you could try to repair the file.

Before We Begin

It is important to identify the root cause behind Excel file corruption. If the problem has occurred due to a faulty hard disk drive, contact your hardware vendor to get it fixed. Also, move the file to another local drive and check if it opens. If nothing works, proceed with the methods discussed below to repair and restore the file.

Methods to Repair and Restore Excel File

Try the following methods to fix corruption in an Excel file and restore it.

Method 1 – Use the Built-in ‘Open and Repair’ Tool

You can use the Excel built-in Open and Repair utility to repair the corrupt file. Follow these steps:

• Open your Excel application and click on Blank workbook.

• On the blank workbook screen, click on the File tab.

• Click Open > Computer > Browse.

• Select the file you want to repair and then click on Open and Repair from the Open dropdown box.

• Click Repair to fix corruption in the Excel file and recover maximum data.

• If you get the following error message, click Yes to open the file.

• If clicking Yes opens the file with garbage entries (see the image below), perform Step 1 – 5 and click Extract Data. This will only help you recover data without formulas and values.

Note: You may also try to recover the data from a corrupted workbook by using the methods suggested by Microsoft .

A better way to repair and restore an Excel file with complete data is to use a specialized Excel file repair tool .

Method 2 – Use Excel File Repair Tool

Stellar Repair for Excel is a powerful tool designed to help users fix corrupted .xls or .xlsx files without any technical assistance. Also, the tool recovers all the components from a corrupted workbook, including tables, pivot tables, cell values, formulas, charts, images, etc. You can preview the repaired file and its contents by downloading the free demo version from the link below. It is a useful feature that allows the user to validate the data before saving it.

[

](https://tools.techidaily.com/stellardata-recovery/repaire-for-excel/ “Free Download For Windows”)

Here’s the step-by-step instructions to repair a corrupt Excel file using the software:

• Run the software. The software main interface opens with an instruction to add some add-ins if you’ve engineering formulas in the file you want to repair.

• Click OK to proceed.

• Select the file you wish to repair by using the Browse option.

Note: If you’re not aware of the file location, choose the ‘Search’ option to locate the file.

• A screen showing progress of the Excel file repair process is displayed.

• Preview of the repaired Excel file and its recoverable data is displayed.

• After verifying the data, click on the Save File button on the File menu to save the repaired file.

• Select the location where you wish to save the repaired file on the Save File window and then click OK.

A confirmation message will pop-up after completion of the repair process. You can now try to open the file in your Excel program.

End Note

Even if you’re taking preventive measures, you might still experience corruption in an Excel file. So, it’s crucial to take regular backups of your workbooks. For this, ensure that the ‘Always create backup’ option is enabled in Excel. You can find it in General Options by clicking on the Tools button in the Save As dialog box. Enabling it will ensure that the Excel backup file is updated with the changes made in a spreadsheet.

Additionally, ensure that the Excel ‘AutoRecover’ feature is set to save a version of your Excel file after every 10 minutes. You can increase or shorten the interval as per your requirement.

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?

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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.

Excel Repair Tool to Repair Corrupt Excel files (.XLS/.XLSX)

When to Use Stellar Excel File Repair Tool?

Unable to Open an Excel File Due to Invalid Extension?

You may face an error - “Excel cannot open the file .xlsx” in Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, etc., leading to data loss. This error occurs when you try to open corrupt Excel file or an invalid file format. Using the correct extension can resolve the issue, if there is no corruption. However, you need an Excel repair tool if the file is corrupt. Stellar Repair for Excel can repair the corrupt file and recover all objects in intact form.

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Excel File Not Opening Due to Corruption?

You cannot open an Excel file if it is corrupted. For example, opening an Excel file created in a lower version like Excel 2007 in Excel 2010 or later version can throw a corruption error message. Or, the file may open in a ‘protected view,’ not allowing any write operations. The Excel repair tool from Stellar provides a comprehensive solution to fix corrupt Excel files across all versions, including Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, and older.

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Excel Found Unreadable Content?

You may encounter an error message – “Excel found unreadable content in filename.xls”, with a message to recover the contents of the workbook. Clicking ‘Yes’ to recover the contents may lead to loss of formatting, replacement of formulas, and inconsistencies. Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair software now Stellar Repair for Excel can scan the workbook and recover its contents.

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KEY FEATURES FOR REPAIR FOR EXCEL

Software Important Capabilities

Repair Large-sized Excel Files

Stellar Repair for Excel software previously known as Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair can repair & fix corrupt Excel files of any size. It removes corruption from individual objects, fixes the damage, and restores the Excel file back to its original state. The Excel repair tool can repair multiple Excel files in a batch.
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Resolves All Excel Corruption Errors

This Excel file repair tool fixes all types of Excel corruption errors, such as unrecognizable format, Excel found unreadable content in name.xls, Excel cannot open the file filename.xlsx, file name is not valid, the Excel file is corrupt and cannot be opened, etc. It provides a comprehensive solution for fixing Excel file issues.
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### Preview the Repaired Excel File

The software shows a preview of the repaired Excel file and its recoverable contents in the main interface. This functionality allows you to verify the data in your repaired Excel file, including all of its objects, before saving the file. The Excel File Recovery software helps in determining the final state of data you will receive after repairing the corrupted Excel file.
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Recovers All Excel file Objects

The software repairs the corrupt Excel file and recovers all objects, including tables, charts, series trendline, conditional formatting rules, and properties of the worksheet. The software also recovers embedded functions, group & subtotal, engineering formulas, numbers, texts, rules, etc. It recovers Excel file data in its intact form.

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OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES

Know your Product Better

Option to Find Excel Files

Stellar Excel repair software helps users unaware of the Excel file location to search for all the Excel files on the computer. It provides ‘Find’ option to quickly locate and list all the Excel files for repair. You can select single or multiple files from the list that you want to repair.

Stellar Toolkit for File Repair

Stellar Toolkit for File Repair provides essential tools to repair corrupt Office files via a single interface. It comprises tools like MS Excel Repair, MS Word Repair, MS PowerPoint Repair, and PDF Repair to fix corrupt documents while maintaining the original file format.
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HOW TO USE STELLAR REPAIR FOR EXCEL

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Excel Repair

Repairs corrupted Excel files with 100% integrity.

• Repairs XLS, XLSX, XLTM, XLTX, and XLSM files
• Repairs multiple Excel files
• Previews the repaired file
• Supports Excel 2021 & older versions

File Repair Toolkit

Repairs corrupted Excel, Word, PowerPoint, & PDF files.

• Repairs XLS, XLSX, XLTM, XLTX, and XLSM files
• Repairs multiple files
• Previews the repaired file
• Supports Excel 2021 & older versions
• Repairs .DOC & .DOCX files
• Repairs .PPT, .PPTX, & .PPTM files
• Repairs corrupted PDF file

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File Repair Toolkit Technician

Repairs corrupted Excel, Word, PowerPoint, & PDF files up to 3 systems.

• Repairs XLS, XLSX, XLTM, XLTX, and XLSM files
• Repairs multiple files
• Previews the repaired file
• Supports Excel 2021 & older versions
• Repairs .DOC & .DOCX files
• Repairs .PPT, .PPTX, & .PPTM files
• Repairs corrupted PDF file

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About Product

Stellar Repair for Excel

Version:	6.0.0.7
License:	Single System
Edition:	Standard, Technician, & Toolkit
Language Supported:	English
Release Date:	February, 2024

Processor:	Intel compatible (x64-based processor)
Memory:	4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)
Hard Disk:	250 MB of Free Space
Operating System: (64 Bit only)	Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7

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How do I repair multiple Excel files by using Stellar Repair for Excel software?

After launching the software, click Select File button in the Home tab. Next, click Browse and select the checkbox against all the Excel files you need to repair. Then, click the Repair button to start repairing all the Excel files.

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How do I see the Preview of repaired Excel file using the Demo version of the software?

Browse and select the file(s) to repair. The software will start scanning the Excel files once you click the Repair button. Next, it will display the files in the left pane. You can preview their contents in the right pane.

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How do I find the recovered Excel file?

The software saves the repaired file with the prefix “Recovered” at the user-specified location. You can find the recovered file using the Search box utility in the taskbar.

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Free download to scan and preview all recoverable Excel data.

[Fixed] Excel Cannot Open the File Because the File Format or File Extension Is Not Valid

When opening an older version of an Excel file in a newer version, you may encounter the “Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid” error. This happens if you have accidentally renamed the file with a different file format or an incorrect file extension. Also, you may get the ‘Excel cannot open the file’ error if the file has become unreadable or corrupted.

This is how the complete Excel error message looks like:

“Excel cannot open the file filename.xlsx because the file format or file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file.”

Check out this video for a quick demonstration of how to fix “Excel Cannot Open the File Because the File Format or File Extension Is Not Valid”

How to Fix the ‘Excel Cannot Open the File Because the File Format or Extension Is Not Valid’ Error?

Try any of these workarounds to fix the error and regain access to your Excel file data:

Workaround 1 – Change the Default File Format

By default, an Excel file is saved in .xlsx or .xls file format. Trying to open the file with a different or incorrect extension may cause the ‘Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid’ error. To fix the error, try changing the Excel default file format by following these steps:

Note: Take a backup of the Excel file that you cannot open and try the steps on the backup copy.

• In Excel 2010 and newer versions, click on the File menu.

Note: For Excel 2007 and earlier versions, click on the Office button.

• On the left panel, click on Options. 
• In ‘Excel Options’ window, under Save workbooks section, click on the Save files in this file format: drop-down. Select a file format (i.e., the one supported by your Excel version).

• Click OK.

Check if you can open your Excel file. If not, try the next workaround.

Workaround 2 – Edit the Excel File Permissions

You may receive the ‘Excel file format or file extension is not valid’ error if you lack sufficient permissions to open the file. Usually this happens when you try to open an Excel file received from some other user. Follow these steps to change the file permissions and see if it fixes the problem:

• Right-click on the file that won’t open and click Properties.
• In the file properties dialog box, click the Security tab and then hit the Edit button.

• When the file’s permissions dialog box appears, click on the Add button.

• Click on the Advanced button from the ‘Select Users or Groups’ window.


• Select Find Now. A list of all users and groups will get displayed in a search results box. Choose Everyone group from the list and hit OK.

• You can see the ‘Everyone’ group in the ‘Enter the object names to select’ textbox. Click OK once again to return to the file’s permission dialog box.

• Click Everyone from the Group or user names: box and check all the checkboxes under Allow.

• Click on Apply and then OK.

Now try to open the Excel file. If you’re still getting the Excel file cannot open error, use the following workaround.

Workaround 3 – Recover Unsaved Workbook

If the ‘Excel file extension not valid error’ occurs when attempting to open an unsaved workbook, do the following to recover the unsaved workbook:

• In Excel, click File. 
• From the Info screen, under Manage Versions, click Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

Excel will list any unsaved files. Try opening the file and save it. If this doesn’t work, skip to the next workaround.

Workaround 4 – Repair the Workbook

If none of the above workarounds has worked for you, chances are that the Excel file has become corrupted. Try to repair the file using the Excel inbuilt ‘Open and Repair’ utility by following these steps:

• In your Excel application, click on File > Open.
• In the ‘Open’ dialog box that pops-up, select the Excel file you want to repair and click the arrow next to the Open button.

• From the dropdown list, select Open and Repair.

• Excel will ask you to attempt to repair the file or extract data from it. Click Repair to retrieve maximum data. If the Repair option fails, click on Extract Data to recover the data without formulas and values.

If the ‘Open and Repair’ utility doesn’t help fix the corrupted file and/or recover the data, use an Excel repair tool  such as Stellar Repair for Excel to regain access to your file and its data.  

Stellar Repair for Excel software can help repair severely corrupted XLS and XLSX files. Also, it helps recover all the file components, including tables, pivot tables, cell comments, charts, chart sheets, images, formulas, etc., without impacting the original structure of the Excel file. 

To learn how the software works, read this: How to repair corrupt Excel file using Stellar Repair for Excel?

Conclusion

You may encounter the error ‘Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid’ when opening a workbook with a different file format or an incorrect file extension. Also, the error may occur if the Excel file has turned corrupt. This article has covered some of the most effective workarounds to resolve the error. But if nothing works, you can try to repair the Excel file and retrieve its data using the Stellar Repair for Excel software.

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.