How to Repair an Excel File

Attempt to Open the File
1. Repair the file manually. From the menu, click “File,” “Open.” Select the damaged file. Click the arrow next to the “Open” button. Click “Open and Repair.” At the prompt, click “Repair.” The file may open successfully.
2. If you have AutoRecover turned on, open the recovery file. Since recovery files are deleted when you quit Excel, try this before restarting. The default file location for AutoRecover files is “C:\\Documents and Settings\\
\\Application Data\\Microsoft\\Excel.”
3. Revert to the most recently saved version. On the menu, click “File” and “Open.” Select the name of the file you want to recover. A dialog box appears, asking “Revert to Saved Document?” Click “OK.”
4. Close Excel, then reopen it and see if you can open the file.
5. Restart the computer, then open Excel and try opening the file.
6. Clear temporary files. In Windows Explorer, navigate to \'C:\\Windows\\Temp.\' Delete the contents of the folder. Restart your computer, open Excel and see if you can open the file.
7. Start Excel in Safe Mode. Click “Start.” Under “Accessories,” click “Run.” Type the following command, including quotation marks (the “/s” switch specifies Safe Mode):
“c:\\program files\\Microsoft office\\office\\excel.exe” /s
Press “Enter.” When Excel opens, try to open the file.
8. If you have a more recent version of Excel installed, try opening the file in that version.
Save as SYLK or HTML
9. You may be able to filter out errors in the active sheet by saving in SYLK (Symbolic Link) or HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) format. To save as SYLK, select “File,” “Save As.” Click the arrow next to “Save as type,” and select “SYLK (Symbolic Link) (*.slk).” Click “Save.”
10. One or more warning messages will appear. Click “OK” or “Yes.”
11. Close the saved file.
12. Click “File,” Open.” Change the file type to “All Files.” Select the SLK file you just saved and click “Open.”
13. Click “File” and “Save As.” Give the file a different name, and save it as a Microsoft Excel workbook (.xls).
14. This method affects the active sheet only. For each additional worksheet in the corrupted file, reopen the workbook, activate the sheet and repeat the process.
15. If the problem persists, try saving the file in HTML format. After saving, close the file, reopen it and save it as an Excel file, using a different filename.
Modify the Registry
16. Back up the registry before making any changes. Changing the registry is risky, and the Registry Editor does not wait for a “Save” command before making your changes permanent. For information on backing up the registry, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base at support.Microsoft.com/kb/322756/en-us.
17. Open the Registry Editor. Click “Start,” then “Run.” Type “regedit” and press “Enter.”
18. In the left-hand pane, double-click on “HKEY_CURRENT_USER.” You will see a list of subkeys. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Office\\10.0\\Excel\\Options by double-clicking each subkey.
19. In the right-hand pane, double-click on “ExtractDataMode.” In the “Value Data” box, change the “2” to “1.” Click “OK.” Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer to see if the change fixed the problem.
20. Follow the same procedure to change the value of “ExtractDataFormulas” from “2” to “1.” Restart your computer and see if the fix worked.
21. Repeat the process to change the value of “ExtractDataDisableUI” from “2” to “1,” and restart your computer.