[2024] How to Repair Excel File with 7 Proven Methods?

Category: Repair Files

November 27, 2023 3 mins read

The Excel files may get damaged for various reasons. It’s important to check out the reasons, and knowing how to repair Excel file with workable solutions is also important. This article will tell you all!

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Before the solutions, it’s important to know the reasons why your Excel file gets corrupted, so that you can prevent the future damage.

In case the corrupted Excel file is caused by more severe reasons, you can first try a one-stop solution, which is using a file repair tool – iMyFone UltraRepair.

For damaged files in different corruption levels, such as Excel not responding, files not opening, Excel formula not showing result, UltraRepair can fix them all with proper scanning and fixing method.

Key Features:

• Repair corrupted Excel Files with high success rate without changing the original content.
• Fix Excel problems such as Excel running slow, Excel not opening, Excel file format or extension is not valid, and more.
• No limit on the file size and the number of the uploaded files.
• Support to batch process multiple files at a time.
• Offer to fix damaged PDF, Word, PPT and more within the single app.

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Watch the video on how to repair corrupt Excel files:

Step 1: Download and launch the software to choose Repair tab, then click Add files and start repairing to import your damaged Excel files.

Step 2: After uploading, click Repair.

Step 3: Preview first or save the repaired Excel files as copy.

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1 Open Excel in Safe Mode

Sometimes, Excel add-ins can conflict with the program, leading to file corruption. Opening Excel in Safe Mode disables these add-ins, allowing you to access the file without any potential interference.

Step 1: Press the Windows key on your keyboard.

Step 2:Type Excel in the search bar.

Step 3: Press and hold Ctrl while clicking on the Excel application. This will open it in Safe Mode.

2 Turn to Open and Repair Feature

Excel provides a built-in feature called ‘Open and Repair’ which attempts to fix corrupted Excel files. This feature can be accessed when opening a file and is designed to automatically detect and repair common issues.

Step 1: Launch Excel on your computer, click File tab.

Step 2: In the menu, select Open to locate the corrupted Excel file you want to repair.

Step 3: Next to the Open button, there is a small arrow. Click on it to choose Open and Repair.

3 Recover Previous Version

You can restore the previous versions of your Excel files if you’re using the Windows operating system so as to repair corrupted excel file. If your file became corrupted or not be saved properly, this method can be a lifesaver. It actually reverts the corrupted file to the earlier state without corruption.

Step 1: Go to the folder where the file is stored, then right-click the damaged file.

Step 2: In the context menu, select Restore previous versions. This option is available if the file has previous versions saved.

Step 3: There will pop up a new window with all previous versions of the file listed.

Step 4: Choose the version you want to restore, then click the Restore button to recover.

4 Use Excel's External References

To repair Excel file, this technique should be new to you. It involves starting a new Excel file then use the references to get data from the damaged file. By following this method, you may save certain intact data without risking losing all stored data of the originally corrupted file.

Step 1: Open the Excel file where you want to import external data.

Step 2: Click on the cell where you want the data to be placed, type = to begin the formula.

Step 3: Go to the source workbook to open it with the original file.

Step 4: Click on the cell you want to refer, then complete the formula.

5 Open in Google Sheets or Other Software

If still the Excel is not opening, try to open it in an alternative spreadsheet software such as Google Sheets. This program may have different ways for reading the data of your Excel file, thus allowing you to have access to the damaged file.

6 Delete Unwanted Add-ins from Excel

Some unreliable add-ins in MS Office can also lead to various unwanted problems. The most effective method for repairing damaged or corrupted Excel files caused by app-related issues is to uninstall these add-ins.

Simply open MS Excel and navigate to Menu > File > Options. In the Excel Options window, access the Add-ins section from the sidebar. Here, you can use the Action feature to remove the add-in. Or, you can directly uninstall any add-in on Excel through the Manage Add-ins option.

And this is the end of the guide on how to repair Excel files that are corrupted using different methods. And you can try the one-stop Excel file repair tool iMyFone UltraRepair to get the Excel fixed instantly, trying other common solutions is a wise choice as well.

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Melvin Cooper

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