Excel File Recovery: 6 Ways to Recover Corrupt Excel File

You can not access to the Excel Worksheet you've spent hours? No worry, corrupted excel file recovery isn't a difficult task now. Find solutions here.

• Filed to: Document Recovery • Proven solutions

It can be one of the most distressing positions to find yourself in. You complete your highly detailed and incredibly complicated Excel Spreadsheet only for the dreaded to occur: something happens with your computer and now you have absolutely no way of accessing the Excel Worksheet you've spent hours, perhaps even days perfecting. You are sure that the file is corrupt, but you have no idea how you can at least recover the data in it. You have to be able to salvage something even if you are going to have to begin a new document. If this is your predicament or something similar, you should know that there are several ways you can get your data back. Depending on the method you choose, you may even be able to get all of your data with all of its formatting intact. Hopeful? Good. The following are just some of the ways to recover your Excel Worksheet.

Part 1: The Easiest Way to Recover Corrupt Excel File

The easiest and less labor-intensive way to get your Excel data from a corrupt t file is to use a data recovery program. Under most circumstances, they save you a lot of time by making the process of data recovery very easy. But there are so many that sometimes you can be a little skeptical when all of the promise heaven. But there is one such data recovery software that unlike most others will actually deliver on its promises. This program is known as Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac (or Recoverit Data Recovery for Windows) and it is designed to make data recovery safe, affordable and so easy to do it takes no more than 5 minutes to get your Excel data back.

Recoverit

Why Choose This Corrupted Excel File Recovery Software:

  • Despite its high capability, the software remains easy to use and with a user-friendly interface that makes it the ideal program to use even if you have never used similar programs before.
  • The program can be used to recover just about any type of data not just documents. You can use it to recover other types of data including photos, videos, emails and many more.
  • You can use it to recover data that has been lost due to accidental deletion, formatting, virus infection, unexpected power outages, improper operations and even a software crash.
  • None of the other data on your computer will be at risk. The program utilizes a read-only process so nothing on your drive will change.
2,965,271 people have downloaded it

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Corrupted Excel File

Step 1 Install the Software

Download and install Recoverit for Mac to your Mac. 

Step 2 Choose a Drive to Scan

In the next window as below, select the drive or a whole disk and then click "Start" to begin the scanning process. If you don't see the disk or partition, click "Refresh" icon next to "External Removable Device".

select the location
Step 3 Corrupted Excel File Recovery

Once the scan is complete, you will be able to see all of the files available on that disk or drive. Now all you have to do is simply select the files you would like to recover and then click on the "Recover" button to save them. It is important that you save the recovered files on a different disk, an external storage device is a good idea.

corrupted excel file recovery

Part 2: Repair Method to Complete Corrupted Excel File Recovery

Out of all the repair methods we shall see to try and recover or complete a corrupted Excel file, this one should be the top of your list. You should ideally attempt this repair method as soon as you discover that your Excel file has been corrupted or is missing.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Corrupted Excel File

Step 1 Begin by opening a blank Excel document. You can do this by clicking on the Start Menu and then choosing "All Applications". Find the Excel application from the list. You may also already have it pinned on your task bar in which case, all you need to do is click on the icon.

corrupted excel file recovery

Step 2 Go to File > Open to open the Excel document that is corrupted. An easier way to do this would be to click CMD + O on your keyboard.

excel corrupt file recovery

Step 3 Find the desired file and then click on the Drop down menu next to "Open" to select "Open and Repair".

Repair corrupted file recovery

If for some reasons Excel cannot open the file, choose "Extract Data" in the popup window that appears. Click "Yes" to confirm that this is what you want to do and if Excel displays a warning that the file caused a serious issue last time it was opened, proceed to open it anyway.

Hopefully this method should work to help you recover your corrupted file but we have to say that it will only work if you do it as soon as you discover a problem with the file. If it doesn’t work, try our net solution.

Part 3: HTML Method to Complete Corrupted Excel File Recovery

This HTML method has been known to work in certain circumstances and it may just be what you need to recover your corrupted file. Here's how to do it.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Corrupted File

Step 1 If you can, open the Excel file and then go to "Save As". If you need to, choose other formats from the drop down menu in the "Save As Type" option.

corrupted excel file recovery

Step 2 From the options in the drop down list, select "Web Page".

excel corrupt file recovery

Step 3 To maximize the chance that you will recover the entire document, it is important that you make sure "entire Workbook" is selected and then click on "Save". Please note that certain elements of the original workbook may be lost including formatting may be lost. If Excel display a message indicating this fact, click "Yes" to acknowledge the risk and to continue.

HTML corrupted excel file recovery

Step 4 Once the file is saved, locate it in the folder you saved the file in. You can do this by clicking "File" and selecting "open" and then opening the folder to find the file. When you find it, right-click on the file and then choose "Open with > Microsoft Office Excel".

Step 5 Once the document is open, go to "Save As" again and this time choose and Excel format from the drop down list next to the "Save As Type" option. When asked for a Page Title, create one that is not the same as the original corrupted file. Hit "Save" to complete the process.

This should work to fix the problem but if it doesn't, try our next solution.

Part 4: Copy Data Method to Complete Corrupted Excel File Recovery

If none of the above methods work and you can open the corrupted file but cannot or don't want to risk adding any more data on to the document, the Copy data method might be a good idea. As the name suggests, the Copy Data Method involves copying the data on the corrupt document to a new document. Here's how to do it.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Corrupted File

Step 1 Begin by opening the corrupted file. You can do this by starting with a blank Excel document and then clicking on "File" to select "Open" from the options provided. You can also just hit CMD + O on the keyboard to browse for the corrupted file.

Step 2 Once the file is open and you can see the data on the document (this method will only work if you can open the file and see the data), right click on a sheet tab and then choose "Select All Sheets". This will highlight all of the data on the document.

copy data excel corrupt file recovery

Step 3 Once all of the data has been selected, right click on ay sheet tab and this time select "Move or Copy". In the popup that appears, select "New Book" and make sure that the box marked "Create a copy" is checked. And then Hit "OK".

corrupted excel file recovery

This will create a whole new Excel document with all of the data in the old corrupted one. If the process works you can easily continue with editing the document and save it in a new location.

Part 5: XML Method to Complete Corrupted Excel File Recovery

Here's how to use the XML method to try and recover the corrupted Excel document.

Step-by-Step Guide to Recover Corrupted File

Step 1 If you can, open the corrupted file. Once it is open select "File" and the "Save As". From the list of possible formats next to "Save as Type" select "XML Spreadsheet" and then click "Save". Now open the document again in Excel.

Step 2 Go to "Save As" again and then this time save the document as an Excel Workbook by choosing and Excel format from the drop down list next to "Save as Type".

excel corrupt file recovery

Be sure to change the file name to prevent saving it over the corrupt file and then click "Save". This should fix the file and allow you to continue working on the document.

Part 6: Tips on Corrupted Excel File Recovery

If none of the above methods work, here are a few things you can try.

Close the program and then "re-open" it and then open the file again.

corrupted excel file recovery tips

If that doesn't work, try restarting your computer. A good reboot works to solve just about any problem you may be having with your computer and it may work for this one as well. From the power menu select "Restart". Once the computer has fully rebooted, open the Excel document again.

excel corrupt file recovery

If that doesn't work, you may need to delete some of the temporary files and folders on your computer. these files and folders can be found in C:/Windows/temp directory. Once you have deleted these files, reboot the computer and then try opening the Excel document again.

If you are still unable to open the document, you can try opening it on another compatible program. One of the best it OpenOffice. It is fully compatible with Windows programs and may be able to work around a file corruption. You can use it to open and edit the document easily.

corrupted excel file recovery

If none of the above solutions seem to bear any fruit, you may have to consider opening the Excel document in safe mode. This may disable the VBA and Add-ins but it is a great solution because you can then use the Copy Data method we used above to move the data to a new document. To open the document in safe mode, follow these very simple steps.

Step 1 Restart the computer in Safe mode. Click on "Start" and then "Run". Enter the actual path of the file you want to execute (the corrupt file). This will depend on your version of Windows. For instance, it can be Office/Office/excel.exe or C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft office/Office 11/excel.exe or something similar.

Step 2 This will allow you to open the Excel program in safe mode. Try opening the file now and if it works, copy all of the data to a new document and then revert back to normal mode to see if your file is workable now.

It is also very likely that your document could be malfunctioning due to a virus attack. In this case it might be a good idea to use whatever Malware Protection software you have on your computer to scan the file for viruses. The program should eliminate any viruses found and you should be able to open the document without any problems.

If the file doesn't have any viruses, try to see if the disk is the main problem. You can do this by opening Explorer and trying to copy the file to a new location. If you are able to determine that the disk is the problem, you may need professional help to have it fixed to avoid future problems with other documents.

Of course if all of the above don't work, your best bet would be to make use of a good data recovery program to recover corrupted Excel files and we have already shared one with you. The Recoverit program will save you a lot of time, time that would otherwise have been spent working on completing the document rather than trying to figure out how to recover it.

Elva

staff Editor

Hot Articles

How to Recover Previous Version of Word Document? [5 Ways]
Working hours to lose all data at the last minute can be frustrating. Learn how to recover previous version of Word document to alleviate the stress.
How to Recover Deleted Sheet in Excel: Step-By-Step Guide
Are you wondering how to recover deleted sheets in Excel? If so, keep reading to learn different ways to restore your worksheets in no time.
3 Best Free PDF Password Removers to Unlock Your Files Online
Learn about the three top PDF password remover online and find out how to easily unlock your PDF files without any software.
How to Recover Previous Version of Excel File?
Don't worry when you lose your unsaved excel files, here are 5 proven ways to tell you how to recover previous version of excel files.
How to Recover Unsaved PDF Files from Crashed Computer/Mac?
This article will tell you how to recover unsaved PDF files from crashed Computer/Mac, and how to avoid computer/mac from crashing.
Deleted Permanently? How to Recover Deleted Files from OneDrive Recycle Bin
How long do files stay in OneDrive? How do I recover permanently deleted files from OneDrive from the Recycle Bin? How to recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin in OneDrive will all be answered.
5 Solutions to Recover Deleted Excel Files from Recycle Bin that You Shouldn't Miss
This article compiles 5 solutions on how to recover excel deleted from Recycle Bin. These solutions also offer ways to recover recently deleted files from Recycle Bin and unsaved excel files.
Steps to Recover Deleted Google Sheets, Docs, or Slides
A guide on how to recover a deleted Google Slide, Doc or Sheet with ease under circumstances where it accidentally gets deleted from the interface.
Home > > Resource > Document Recovery > Excel File Recovery: 6 Ways to Recover Corrupt Excel File