You'll notice a longer pause than usual while Office is working on the file, then your document will either open as normal, or you'll see an error message describing the problem. And this will often happen automatically. Office can fix some corrupt documents on its own. Now try opening the document again, and you may well have better luck.
You might try repairing the current installation (in Windows 7, go to Control Panel, Uninstall a Program, choose Office, click Change and select the Repair option), or reinstalling the entire package. REINSTALL: If the problem is with Office itself then a repair installation may fix the problemīut if there are problems elsewhere, as well, then perhaps the issue is with Office. Grab a copy of Recuva (if you don't have one already. The copy is deleted when you close your Office application, though, so you'll need an undelete tool. In addition, Office apps will generally create a hidden temporary file with a copy of your document, as you work on it, so locating this file can be useful. If this is a Word document, for instance, try searching for *.WBK or *.ASD files of the right size and date, opening likely matches in Word to see what turns up (more on that topic at the Microsoft site). Keep trying the following steps and you may be able to recover the latest copy of the file, too.ĭepending on your Office setup and the history of this document, you may have backup, autorecover or other temporary copies of the file. This will get you a baseline version of the file, but you may still have lost plenty of work: if so, don't stop here. If it works, save it with a new name, then repeat the process with later folder entries until you reach the point where the file became corrupted. How thoughtfulĭouble-click one with a date when you know the document was readable, and try opening this older version. And for DiskInternals Excel Recovery, the Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid in Excel 2013 this is easier than ever.SHADOW: Windows may have made a backup copy of your document.
Excel cannot open the file? Use DiskInternals Excel Recovery!ĭiskInternals Excel Recovery is a great solution for you, as this software is designed specifically for recovering Excel files. If for any reason this method did not suit you, do not worry, there is another proven method! Method 4. Now click Open and Repair.Īs a result, you will no longer see the message of the workbook cannot be opened or repaired by microsoft excel because it is corrupted and you will be able to use the file again. This is a built-in easy-to-handle MS Excel utility that allows you to correct the error excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid.Įnter the Excel application and on the Taskbar click File, select Open from the list, then click on your inaccessible file. Excel cannot open the file? “Open and Repair” feature will help you! You will be prompted to save it, create a new name, enable XLSX and click Save. Right click on the file you need and select restore. A list of files that have been automatically saved will appear. To do this, go to the application and on the Taskbar click on File, then select the Information with the left mouse button. If you have enabled the autosave feature in advance, you can safely use this method to eliminate the error “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid”. Use Excel previous version to open the file You need to directly change the file extension depending on the version of Excel installed.Ĭheck if the error “Excel cannot open the file” is resolved. Then select Options -> Export -> Change File Type. Open Excel and, on the taskbar, select File. Therefore, all you need is to modify the file format and it will become available.
But Excel since 2007 saves files in the XLSX format.Ī mismatch between file extension and Excel version may cause the error “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid”. In all versions of Excel until 2007, documents were saved in the XLS format. If you still get an error message that Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid, there are some great methods to fix it! Method 1.Change the file extension! The document was edited several times in different versions of Excel.The document is damaged or incompatible with the current version of Excel.This may occur for the following reasons: While working with Excel, you may see the message: Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid.