How to Resolve Excel File Corruption Errors?
- Author : Creative Team on August 5, 2013
Corruption of MS Excel files is a common occurrence. It is seen that a corrupt Excel file throws an error message when you try to open it, start editing it, or perform other such activities on it. Some of the common error messages that a MS Excel user encounters when his Excel sheet gets corrupt are:
"Excel unable to read file"
"Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close."
"This file is not in a recognizable format."
"The file is corrupt and cannot be opened"
"Excel found unreadable content in (filename)"
"File name is not valid."
"abc.xls file cannot be accessed. The file may be read only."
Generally, the occurrence of these errors causes complete inaccessibility of all the data stored in it. Mentioned below are the causes of corruption of MS Excel file:
Sudden power outage
Shutting down the system without closing MS Excel properly
Resolutions: Efficient resolutions to rectify various Excel corruption errors are:
Use 'Open and Repair' Utility: This is an inbuilt utility of Excel that repairs corrupt Excel file and restores all its data. Mentioned below are the steps to use this tool:
Open Excel, and on the 'File' menu, click 'Open'.
The 'Open' dialog box pops up. Select the file that you want to open and click the arrow provided on the 'Open' button.
A list of various options opens. Select 'Open and Repair'
Save the File in HTML Format: This method is useful when you can open your Excel file. Open your Excel sheet and go to 'Save As'. Choose 'Other Formats' from list of options generated. Select 'Web Page' from the available options. Ensure that your complete workbook is selected, and then click 'Save'. However, by using this format, loss of formatting in your Excel file is quite possible. Click 'Yes' to confirm this warning or 'Help' to know more about it. After that, locate your Excel file, right-click on it, and choose 'Open with >> Microsoft Office Excel'. Then go to 'Save As' and select 'Excel' format from the drop-down list. You can change the name of this file to avoid confusion, and then click 'Save'.
Professional Excel Recovery Software: If none of the above-mentioned methods is able to do any needful to you, then use of professional Excel recovery software like Stellar Phoenix Excel Recovery is recommended. This efficient utility repairs corrupt MS Excel sheets without causing any modification in their original content and formatting. The simple three-step procedure of the software to perform the recovery of corrupt MS Excel file does not let you feel that you are new to it or a non-technical computer user. Click here for detailed description of the recovery steps of the software.
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