Excel workbooks are prone to corruption due to various reasons, such as malware, abrupt system shutdown, and more. When you try to open a corrupted Excel file, you receive an error message stating that the file is corrupt and cannot be opened.
A corrupted Excel file doesn’t open, which prevents you from accessing its contents. This makes the file unusable and could also lead to data loss.
To prevent data loss, we can repair the Excel file. But before moving on with the fixes, let’s read further to understand the reasons behind Excel file corruption.
What Causes Excel File Corruption?
There could be several reasons several reasons behind Excel file corruption. Some of these are:
- Opening Excel files created in an older version of MS Excel in newer versions of MS Excel
- Problem with the Excel file coming from another source via email
- Buggy MS Office updates
- Malware/virus attack
- MS Excel closed abruptly due to an unexpected power outage
- Hardware failure, i:e., bad sectors on the HDD or SSD
Methods to Repair a Corrupted Excel File without Losing Data
Below, you will find some workarounds that can help you repair corrupted Excel files. Let’s look at them in detail.
Method 1: Restore Corrupted Excel File using AutoRecover
MS Excel has an AutoRecover option which helps in restoring the last saved version of the Excel file. However, it is not enabled by default. When it is enabled, Excel periodically saves versions of the current file. In case of an abrupt system shuts down or app crash, these versions can be used to restore the file to its working condition and recover its data. If you have enabled the AutoRecover option in MS Excel, follow the steps below to recover the previous version of your corrupted Excel file –
- Launch MS Excel and click on Blank Workbook.
- Next, go to File > Options.
- You will see the Excel Options window.
- Click on Save in the left panel.
- Now, look for the AutoRecover file location. Copy the path.
- Open Windows Explorer and paste the paste in the address bar. Press Enter.
- You will see all the available AutoRecover Excel files. Select the required file and transfer it to the original location.
Note – In case you haven’t enabled the AutoRecover option but have created a manual backup of your Excel file on an external storage drive or cloud, use it to restore it.
Method 2: Use Open and Repair
Another method to repair a corrupted Excel file is to use MS Excel’s built-in Open and Repair utility. This utility lets you repair corrupted Excel files with ease. Here is how you can use it to repair your corrupted Excel file –
- Launch MS Excel.
- Go to File > Open.
- Click on Browse.
- Locate the corrupted Excel file. Select it.
- Click on the downward-pointing arrow next to the Open button.
- Click on Open and Repair.
- A dialog box will pop up. Click on Repair.
- Once the file is repaired, click Close.
Note – If your Excel file is severely corrupted or the Open and Repair utility didn’t repair the corrupt Excel file completely, you can use the Extract Data option. Doing this will recover values and formulas from the workbook.
Method 3: Use an Excel Repair Software
The methods explained above should help you repair a corrupted Excel file. But, in some cases, these methods may not work properly. These may also restore Excel workbooks with incomplete or missing data.
Hence, to avoid missing data and skip the hassle of going through lengthy procedures, you can rely on a powerful Excel repair tool for XLS & XLSX files like Stellar Repair for Excel. Such a software repairs a corrupted Excel file or accurately recovers data from a severely corrupted Excel recovery.
This tool is specially built to help you repair severely corrupted or damaged Excel files (.xls & .xlsx). This software can also repair Excel files of other file formats like .xltm, and .xltx. Furthermore, it can help you recover data from a severely corrupted Excel file.
This software is compatible with all Excel files created using MS Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, or 2000.
Here are the steps to use Stellar Repair for Excel:
- Download and Install Stellar Repair for Excel on your Windows PC.
- Launch it.
- The Select File window will appear. Click on Browse to select the corrupted Excel file.
- After selecting the corrupted Excel file, click on Repair.
- The software will repair the selected Excel file and display all its contents.
- Once you have verified the data, click on Save File in the ribbon.
- The Save File window will appear.
- Choose the location where you want to save the file and click OK.
The tool will repair the corrupted Excel file and save it at the selected location.
Conclusion
There are multiple reasons, such as malware attacks, bad sectors on a hard drive, abruptly closing MS Excel, etc., which could be behind Excel file corruption. The methods explained above in the post should help you repair your corrupted Excel file and recover the data.
However, recovering data using the DIY method can take up much time and may not produce accurate results. Therefore, if you want to recover all types of Excel data, including formulae, calculated values, and graphs along with the data, use Stellar Repair for Excel. The software effortlessly repairs corrupt Excel files and recovers data from them.
