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How to Recover Corrupted Excel Files in Windows 10 [Quick Ways]
Tweak your Excel settings or go for an expert file recovery tool
8 min. read
Updated onSeptember 23, 2024
updated onSeptember 23, 2024
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Excelis a crucial program used both by individuals and businesses to work with large amounts of data and organize it using formulas, tables, charts, and several other tools.
However, while using the program, you can encounter different unexpected problems, one of them being file corruption errors due to the system, virus infections, or other unknown reasons.
Can you repair a corrupted Excel File?
Yes, you can surely rescue your corrupted Excel files using the various methods we defined in this article. A key sign to look out for is asecurity concern issuemessage when you try to open your file.
As a shortcut, it’s possible to recover corrupted Excel files using the native repairing functionality or by erasing temporary Excel files from your operating system.
How can I repair a corrupted Excel file?
If you face this situation, you can find below several possible solutions that can help you solve the problem.
1. Check your computer for malware to repair Excel files
It is very likely that your document could malfunction due to a virus attack. In this case, it might be a good idea to run a deep systems scan using the software you have on your computer.
The program should eliminate any viruses found and you should be able to open the document. If you are looking for a security tool, you will be happy to know thatsome of the best antivirus software have free trial versions.
If you are not completely sure which one would be best for your own needs, you can try out ESET HOME Security Essential.
This antivirus has an extensive threat database and multi-layered protection to ensure that you are protected on all fronts.
It also has a transparent privacy policy, low resource usage, and non-intrusive notifications. Once you decide to install it, run a full PC scan and remove/quarantine all threats found.
⇒Get ESET Home Security Essential
2. Use third-party software to recover corrupted Excel files
Another possibility is to useprofessional data recovery software that can fix corrupted Excel documents.
Data recovery software scans your whole device for lost or corrupt files. They typically offer an overview of everything they can find and let you know which files can be restored.
When it comes to Excel documents, dedicated software is able to detect and eliminate the cause of corruption, thus allowing you to open your spreadsheets without any issue.
These tools are very powerful and they come with additional recovery features that can help you restore full lost disks and lost files on removable media.
3. Use the Open and Repair tool to fix the Excel file
Note: To recover as much of the workbook data as possible, pickRepair. If Repair is not able to recover your data, pickExtract Datato extract values and formulas from the workbook.
4. Restore the corrupted Excel file to a previous version
Note: The workbook opens without any changes you made that might have caused the workbook to become corrupted.
5. Recover corrupt Excel files by changing the calculation method
A corrupted Excel file could be accessed by changing the Workbook calculation method to be manual.
This calculation is set to be automatic by default, which means the Workbook is calculated every time you try to open a file. Turning this off can help fix the error and allow you to open the corrupt Excel file.
1.Open Microsoft Excel.
- Click onFileand chooseNew.
3.ClickBlank workbookunderNew.
- Navigate toFileand go toOptions.
5.ClickManualunderCalculation optionsin Formulas category.
-
PressOKto apply and save the changes.
-
Try to open the previously corrupted Excel file.
6. Use external references to link to the corrupted workbook
Note: Pasting values will remove the links to corrupted excel and leave you only with the data by then.
By using the method, you won’t be able to recover formulas, formats, charts, macros, and so on, but recovering the data is better than recovering nothing.
7. Recover the TMP file to repair the corrupted Excel file
8. Delete the TEMP folder to fix corrupted files in Excel
If saving a temporary excel file did not work, another suggestion is todelete some of the temporary files and folderson your computer.
These files and folders can be found in C:/Windows/temp directory. Once you have deleted these files, restart your computer and then try opening the Excel document again.
If youcan’t delete temporary files, use our guide to fix the problem.
9. Save the corrupted Excel file in HTML format to try to repair it
10. Save the corrupted file in SYLK format to recover it
Note: Using the SYLK format only saves the active worksheet. You will have to save each worksheet individually and repeat this procedure.
11. Recover the corrupted Excel file by opening it in WordPad or Word
Another solution that we recommend is to try opening your corrupt file in WordPad. If it works, WordPad will convert everything to text but unfortunately, this method will not recover formulas.
On the other hand, the good news is that, unlike many other data recovery methods,WordPadwill recover your macros.
Simply search the recovered text for Sub and Function to find them. You might also be able to open the corrupted .xls file in Word, but the results will be limited.
In order to do so, you first have to make sure you have the Microsoft Excel Converter installed. You candownload it from Microsoft’s official page.
12. Use the XML format to open and recover the corrupted Excel file
13. Open the Excel file in Safe Mode to remove corruption signs
This method may disable your macros and Add-ins but it is a great solution because you can move the data to a new document.
14 Use newer Excel versions to try to recover a corrupter file
Although it seems like a very simple solution, you should definitely try it as well.
Try to use a later Excel version because as the versions increase, the ability for the program to recover a file increases also, so you might be able to recover your file using this simple method.
To prevent this issue from occurring, you might want to check ourExcel keeps crashingguide for more information.
To recover files, it’s also important to knowwhere are Excel autosave files stored, so don’t miss out dedicated guide that covers this subject.
So, have any of these solutions helped you to fix your corrupted Excel file? Let us know in the comments section below.
More about the topics:Excel,windows 10
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
