How to Recover a Corrupt Excel File

This guide will teach you how to recover and repair a corrupted Microsoft Excel file on your Windows or Mac computer.

Method 1: Repairing the File (Windows Only)

1. Ensure You Are Using a Windows Computer
   • Repairing an Excel file is only possible on the Windows version of Excel.
   • If you are using a Mac, try one of the other methods listed.
2. Open Excel
   • The app icon resembles a green box with a white “X”.
3. Click “Open Other Workbooks”
   • This option is next to a folder-shaped icon in the lower-left corner of the window.
4. Click “Browse”
   • A File Explorer window will open.
5. Select Your Corrupted Excel File
   • Navigate to the folder where the corrupted file is stored and select it.
6. Click the “Menu” Icon
   • It is the downward-facing arrow next to the “Open” button. A drop-down menu will appear.
7. Click “Open and Repair…”
   • This option is at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
   • If “Open and Repair…” is greyed out, make sure the Excel file is selected and try again. If it remains greyed out, the file cannot be repaired.
8. Click “Repair” When Prompted
   • Windows will attempt to repair your file.
   • If this option is unavailable, click “Extract Data” instead, then choose either “Convert to Values” or “Recover Formulas” to salvage any data.
9. Wait for the File to Open
   • This may take a few minutes if the file is large.
   • If the file still won’t open, repeat the process and click “Extract Data” instead of “Repair”.
10. Save Your File
    • Once repaired, press Ctrl+S, double-click This PC, select a save location, enter a new file name, and click Save.
    • Ensure the new file name is different from the corrupted file.

Method 2: Changing the File Type (Windows)

1. Understand the Importance of File Types
   • Older Excel documents may become unstable on newer versions. Changing the file format to “xlsx” (or “xls” for older programs) can resolve this issue.
2. Open Start
   • Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
3. Open File Explorer
   • Click the folder-shaped icon.
4. Click the “View” Tab
   • A toolbar will appear.
5. Check the “File Name Extensions” Box
   • This option is in the “Show/hide” section of the toolbar.
6. Select Your Excel File
   • Navigate to and select the document you want to recover.
7. Click “Home”
   • A toolbar will appear.
8. Click “Rename”
   • This option is in the “Organize” section of the toolbar. The file name will become highlighted.
9. Change the File Type
   • Replace the extension with “xlsx” and press Enter.
   • For example, change “Spreadsheet1.docx” to “Spreadsheet1.xlsx”.
   • If already “xlsx”, try “xls” or “html”.
10. Click “Yes” When Prompted
    • This will confirm and change the file extension.
11. Try Opening the File
    • Double-click the file. If it opens in Excel (or a web browser if “html” was used), the file is recovered.
    • For “html”, convert it back to an Excel file by dragging the html file onto the Excel icon and saving as a new “xlsx” file.
    • If the file won’t open, proceed to the next method.

Method 3: Changing the File Type (Mac)

1. Understand the Importance of File Types
   • Similar to Windows, changing the file format to “xlsx” (or “xls” for older programs) can resolve compatibility issues.
2. Open Finder
   • Click the blue, face-shaped app icon in the Dock.
3. Select Your Excel File
   • Navigate to the folder containing the file and select it.
4. Click “File”
   • Located in the top-left corner of your screen.
5. Click “Get Info”
   • This will open a pop-up window.
6. Expand the “Name & Extension” Section if Necessary
   • Click the triangle next to “Name & Extension” to view the file’s name and extension.
7. Change the File Type
   • Replace the extension with “xlsx” and press Return.
   • For example, change “Spreadsheet1.txt” to “Spreadsheet1.xlsx”.
   • If already “xlsx”, try “xls” or “html”.
8. Click “Use .xlsx” When Prompted
   • This will confirm and change the file type.
9. Try Opening the File
   • Double-click the file. If it opens in Excel (or a web browser if “html” was used), the file is recovered.
   • For “html”, convert it back to an Excel file by dragging the html file onto the Excel icon and saving as a new “xlsx” file.
   • If the file won’t open, try another method.

Method 4: Recovering a Temporary Save on Windows

Understand the Limitations

Like most Microsoft Office products, Excel automatically saves recovery versions of files. This means you may be able to restore a partial version of your corrupted Excel document. However, these recovery versions may not always capture the latest changes, and there is a chance you won’t be able to recover the entire document.

Steps to Recover a Temporary Save

1. Open Start
   • Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2. Search for “This PC”
   • Type in “this pc” to search for the “This PC” program.
3. Open This PC
   • Click the computer monitor-shaped icon at the top of the Start window.
4. Double-click Your Computer’s Hard Drive
   • This is usually labeled as the “OS (C:)” option under the “Devices and drives” heading.
5. Navigate to the Users Folder
   • Double-click the “Users” folder.
6. Open Your User Folder
   • This folder is labeled with part or all of your username.
7. Locate the AppData Folder
   • Double-click the “AppData” folder. If you can’t see this folder, click the View tab and check the “Hidden items” box in the “Show/hide” section.
8. Open the Local Folder
   • Double-click the “Local” folder.
9. Navigate to the Microsoft Folder
   • Scroll down and double-click the “Microsoft” folder.
10. Locate the Office Folder
    • Double-click the “Office” folder.
11. Access the UnsavedFiles Folder
    • Double-click the “UnsavedFiles” folder.
12. Select the Corrupted Excel File
    • Look for an Excel file icon that matches the name of your corrupted file and select it. If no files are present, a recovery version wasn’t saved.
13. Change the File Extension
    • To do this:
      • Click View
      • Check the “File name extensions” box.
      • Click Home
      • Click Rename
      • Replace the “.tmp” extension with “.xlsx”
      • Press Enter
      • Click Yes when prompted.
14. Open the Renamed Excel File
    • Double-click the file you just renamed.
15. Save Your Recovered File
    • Once the restored file opens, press Ctrl+S, double-click This PC, select a save location, enter a new file name, and click Save. Be sure to use a different file name than the original corrupted file.

Method 5: Recovering a Temporary Save on Mac

Understand the Limitations

Like most Microsoft Office products, Excel automatically saves recovery versions of files. This means you may be able to restore a partial version of your corrupted Excel document. However, these recovery versions may not always capture the latest changes, and there is a chance you won’t be able to recover the entire document.

Steps to Recover a Temporary Save

1. Open the Go Menu
   • Click the Go menu item at the top of the screen. If you don’t see the Go menu item, first open Finder or click the desktop to make it appear.
2. Access the Library Folder
   • Hold down the Option key to reveal the Library folder in the Go drop-down menu.
   • Click Library.
3. Open the Containers Folder
   • Double-click the “Containers” folder.
4. Search for the Microsoft Excel Folder
   • Click the search bar in the upper-right side of the window.
   • Type in “com.microsoft.Excel” and press Return.
5. Select the Containers Tab
   • Click the Containers tab near the “Search:” heading.
6. Open the com.microsoft.Excel Folder
   • Double-click this folder to open it.
7. Navigate to the AutoRecovery Folder
   • Open the Data folder.
   • Open the Library folder.
   • Open the Preferences folder.
   • Open the AutoRecovery folder.
8. Find a Temporary Version of Your Excel File
   • Look for a file with some or all of the name of your corrupted Excel document. If you can’t find it, the file wasn’t backed up.
9. Open the Excel File
   • Click the Excel file to select it.
   • Click the File menu item in the upper-left corner of the screen.
   • Select Open With.
   • Click Excel. The temporary version of the Excel document will open in Excel. Note that it may not include the most recent changes.
10. Save the Document
    • Press Command+S, enter a file name, select a save location in the “Where” menu, and click Save.