How to repair corrupt Excel file

Stellar Repair for Excel is an excellent tool to repair corrupt or damaged MS Excel files. Mentioned below are the steps to perform Excel repair with this tool:

• Download & Run the Stellar Repair for Excel.

• A dialog box appears on your screen, click ‘OK’ to proceed.

• To select your corrupt .XLS or .XLSX file, click ‘Browse’ button. However, if you do not know the location of your .XLS or .XLSX file, the software provides you the option ‘Search’ to search for your corrupt Excel files.

• Select the checkboxes against the files that you want to repair and click ‘Repair’. This starts the scanning process.

• The list of all the files that the software has scanned is displayed in the tree-view in the left pane. Click on a file from this tree-view to see its preview in the middle pane. From this list, you can select the file that you want to recover.

• You can either select the ‘Default location of file’ or ‘Select New Folder’ in the ‘Save Document’ dialog box to save the repaired files.

Stellar Repair for Excel Stellar Repair for Excel is the best choice for repairing corrupt or damaged Excel (.XLS/.XLSX) files. This Excel recovery software restores everything from corrupt file to a new blank Excel file.

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Excel File Corruption Warnings and Solutions

Summary: Many users reported error messages they receive when they try to save or open an Excel file. In this blog, you will learn about the warning messages that indicate your Excel file is corrupt and possible solutions to repair it. It also outlines the Stellar Repair for Excel to repair corrupt Excel files.

Excel users often report about receiving warning messages suggesting corruption in the workbook. This usually happens while opening an Excel file, ‘.xls’ or ‘.xlsx’ file created by earlier versions, or attempting to create a copy of the workbook.

Excel file corruption may occur due to several reasons including (but not limited to) virus infection, sudden system shutdown during write operation, and leaving excel file open on the shared network.

Occurrences of Excel File Corruption Warnings

Occurrence 1 – “Excel found unreadable content in . Do you want to recover the contents of this workbook? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes”.

On clicking ‘Yes’, you will receive the following error:

 “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened”.

Occurrence 2 – “Excel cannot open the file , because the file format or file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file”.

Besides the warning messages outlined above, there are a few other tell-tale signs of Excel file corruption such as:

• Excel crashes or freezes, preventing you from accessing the workbook and information stored in it.
• Unexpected errors occur during the save operation listed as below:
  • “An unexpected error has occurred. AutoRecover has been disabled for this session of Excel”.
  • “Errors were detected while saving ”.

Solutions to Fix Excel File Corruption Issue

Follow the below-listed solutions to deal with corruption issues in Excel:

NOTE: If you encountered problem opening Excel files after upgrading to latest Windows Operating System (OS) and Office program, try updating your Office as well as Windows OS to latest patches provided on the Microsoft site. Microsoft frequently releases Office and Windows OS patches to help users’ correct known errors. Check if you can open the corrupt workbook after installing the update.

Solution 1 – Use Open and Repair Utility

Excel comes with a built-in recovery mechanism. It automatically starts ‘File Recovery Mode’ when a user opens a corrupt workbook, and attempts to open and repair the workbook. Sometimes, the recovery mode might not start automatically. In that case, you will need to repair the Excel file manually by using ‘Open and Repair ’ utility.

Steps to use Microsoft’s built-in repair utility are as follows:

Step 1: Select File > Open.

Step 2: Click the folder containing the corrupt workbook, and then click Browse.

Step 3: In the Open window, select the corrupt workbook.

Step 4: Next, click the arrow in the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.

Step 5: In the window that appears, click Repair.

If  ‘Open and Repair’ doesn’t work in excel , select Extract Data to extract formulas and values from the corrupt workbook.

NOTE: If you need a quick solution to salvage your data, use an Excel file repair tool.

Or else, attempt the following solutions to deal with corruption in Excel file .

Solution 2 – Uninstall and Re-install Office Installation

NOTE: Make sure to create a backup of your Excel file before uninstalling and re-installing your Office application.

Download the Office uninstall support tool to remove the application.

You can read: Simple Ways to Open Corrupt Excel file Without any Backup

To reinstall Microsoft Office, follow these steps:

NOTE: Before proceeding with Office re-installation process, make sure that you have license keys ready.

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Office site.

Step 2: Select Sign in.

NOTE: You may skip this step if you’re already signed in.

Step 3: After signing in, from the Office sign-in page, click Install/Install Office

Your Office application will get re-installed. Now open the backed-up Excel file and see if the problem is fixed.

Solution 3 – Move Excel File to a Different Location

Often moving a corrupt Excel file to a different location can help solve the corruption problem. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open the corrupt Excel file by navigating to the following path:

C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel

NOTE: Make sure to replace User_Name with your user name. If you are unable to find the Excel file, you will have to search for the file manually in Program Files (x86).

Step 2:  Open the Excel folder, and move the corrupt file to some other location.

Step 3: Delete the files from the Excel folder.

Now try opening the Excel file you have moved and see if the issue is resolved.

Solution 4 – Use Excel File Repair Software

If none of the above solutions works for you, use Stellar Repair for Excel. It is a specialized Excel file repair software that helps repair corrupt Excel file and recover workbook data in its original state.

Essentially, the software helps rebuild the corrupt file to restore every single object in the file. It can recover objects including user-defined charts, conditional formatting rules, formatting of the charts, properties of worksheet, engineering formulas, etc.

Steps to use Stellar Repair for Excel are as follows:

Step 1: Download, install and launch Stellar Repair for Excel software.

Step 2: In Select File window, click Browse to select the file you want to repair.

NOTE: If you are unaware of the Excel file location, click ‘Search’ in the Select File window to find the file.

Step 3: Once the files are selected, click Repair to initiate the repair process.

Step 4: Preview the repaired file and select all or specific files you want to save.

Step 5: Click Save File on Home menu.

Step 6: In Save File window, choose ‘Default Location’ or ‘Select New Folder’ to select the location where you wish to save the file. Click OK.

The selected files will be saved at the specified location.

Conclusion

You may experience Excel file corruption warning messages while opening or saving an Excel file. The file may become corrupt due to malware infection, sudden system shutdown, and forgetting to close workbook on a shared network. This post outlined occurrences of Excel file corruption warnings, and also described solutions to fix the issue.

You may try using Microsoft’s built-in ‘Open and Repair’ tool to repair corrupt workbook and recover data from it. If this solution doesn’t work, proceed with uninstalling and re-installing the Office application. Another solution is to move corrupt files to another location. But if the problem still persists, use Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair single or multiple Excel (.xls or .xlsx) files and restore data.

Excel AutoRecover not working, what is next?

Consider a Scenario

A professional with Windows 10 computer had MS Office 2016 installed on it. For an official purpose, he worked on an Excel workbook and saved it as an XLSX file. After working for hours on it, which was saved with a file name, a power outage occurred in his building for quite some time. After the power was back, he reopened Excel to find a list of recovered files in ‘Document Recovery’ section on the screen’s left side. However, the file that he had worked on recently was the ‘Original version,’ i.e. the last version saved by him and not the auto-saved Excel file. This meant the Excel document did not have any new data that was entered since the last time he saved it. Consequently, he lost hours of work. According to him, this happened despite the fact that the ‘AutoRecover’ feature was enabled. (Still, this needs to be checked and ensured.)

The ‘AutoRecover’ feature might not work in any of these cases:

• AutoRecover Feature is disabled - With this feature disabled, the Excel files are not auto-saved if the document is closed without saving, or the document closes unexpectedly due to an untoward incidence. To check, see if ‘Save AutoRecover information every * minutes’ and ‘Keep the last auto-saved version if I close without saving’ checkboxes are checked or unchecked. If either one is unchecked or both are unchecked, it signifies that the AutoRecover feature is disabled. Else, the AutoRecover is enabled.
• Corruption in the Excel XLSX file – If ‘AutoRecover’ is enabled, most probably the cause is ‘damaged Excel XLSX file.’

Before discussing solutions to resolve the ‘Excel AutoRecover not working’ issue, let’s have an overview of the ‘AutoRecover’ and ‘AutoSave’ features.

A Brief Overview of Excel AutoRecover and AutoSave Feature

AutoRecover is an inbuilt feature in MS Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2003, and 2007 that allows saving all of the ‘open Excel files’ at a fixed-interval in a user-specified location or AutoRecover file location. Besides, AutoSave is an add-in that exists in Excel 2002 and earlier versions to save all open Excel files in case of a crash, power outage, or accidental closure of Excel files without saving. Users can recover these files if Excel closes suddenly, for instance, at the time of power outage or failure. The auto-recovered Excel files are saved at a default location.

Methods to Fix ‘Excel AutoRecover Not Working’ Issue

Manual Methods

Method 1 - Enable the ‘AutoRecover’ Feature if Disabled

Make sure that you have the ‘AutoRecover’ feature enabled in your Excel application. If not, follow these steps to enable it:

• Open Excel with MS Excel 2016/2019
• Click on File and then on Options tab
• In ‘Excel Options’, click on Save tab
• Check ‘Save AutoRecover information every * minutes’ and ‘Keep the last auto saved version if I close without saving’ box
• Set the time in ‘Save AutoRecover information every * minutes’
• Click on the OK button

Note: With this method, it is not possible to recover data from the current Excel file. From next time onwards, the AutoRecover feature starts working following which Excel shall start auto-saving Excel files as per the time set in ‘Save AutoRecover information every * minute’.

Method 2 - Repair Corrupt Excel File

If corruption in Excel XLSX file has resulted in ‘Excel AutoRecover not working’ issue, you will need to repair Excel file . Use ‘Open and Repair’ inbuilt utility to fix and repair the damaged (corrupt) Excel file and extract its data. To use the inbuilt utility, execute the following steps:

• Go to location “C:\Users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles” to find Excel TMP files and save it as XLSX file

Note: In Windows 8, the location is the same as mentioned above that is for Windows 10. In Windows 7, the location is “C:\Users\name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\”

• Open a blank Excel sheet; click File >> Open
• Go to the location and folder containing the damaged Excel file
• In the Open dialog box, choose the damaged Excel file and click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair
• In the window that appears, click Repair to recover as much data as possible

Now, open the Excel (XLSX) file to check if the Excel file is repaired and its data is recovered.

Use a Professional Excel File Repair Tool

Using a third-party Excel file repair tool can help you repair damaged Excel XLSX file and recover all the data. Stellar Repair for Excel  is one tool you can rely on to repair severely corrupt Excel files (XLSX or XLS).

Here are a few other reasons why you should choose Stellar Repair for Excel software:

• Repairs Excel file while keeping the worksheet properties and cell formatting same as before.
• Recovers all of the Excel file components like tables, forms, reports, charts, chart sheets, cell comments, formulas, images, etc.
• Can batch repair multiple Excel files simultaneously
• Supports Excel 2019 and earlier versions

Conclusion

To help resolve the problem of ‘AutoRecover not working’, different methods have been discussed, depending on the cause of the problem. These solutions can be implemented to check the possibility of getting back maximum data added in last saved version of the Excel file. However, to fix corruption in the excel file, using a specialized tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel software recommended by MS Excel Experts and MVPs can help. The software can repair severely damaged Excel file easily and efficiently.

Data Disappears in Excel - How to get it back

Summary: You may face the issue of ‘Excel spreadsheet data disappeared’ after changing Excel file properties and formatting rows and columns. This blog discusses the possible reasons for data disappearance and the solutions to fix the issue. Also, it mentions an Excel file repair tool to retrieve the data from the file. Sometimes, while editing or formatting a cell in an Excel spreadsheet, the data may go missing or disappear. Let’s discuss in detail the reasons that may cause the ‘Excel data disappeared’ issue along with the solutions.

Probable Reasons for Data Disappearing in MS Excel and Solutions Thereof

Reason 1 – Unsaved Data

While entering data in an Excel spreadsheet, it is important to save the data at frequent intervals. Doing so prevents any unsaved data from disappearing if you lose power or accidentally click ‘No’ when prompted to save the file. Unfortunately, such a situation is quite common as users often close the file without saving the recently made changes to a spreadsheet.

Solution – Use the ‘AutoSave’ Feature

With the AutoSave feature enabled in Excel, data won’t be lost in the event of power failure or abruptly closing the Excel program. By default, Excel automatically saves the information in a spreadsheet after every 10 minutes. You can reduce the limit to a few seconds to reduce the chances of Excel file data lost after being saved.

Reason 2 – Changing Excel Format

You can save an Excel file in various formats, like spreadsheet, text, webpage, and more. However, at times, saving the spreadsheet in a different format may lead to missing data. For example, when you save a workbook to a text file format, all formulas and calculations applied to the data will be lost.

Solution – Adjust a Spreadsheet for the Changed Format

If you’re changing the format of a spreadsheet, make space for the rows and columns. Also, remove all calculations before saving the file.

Note: If the sheet is shared on multiple computers, then save the file in compatibility mode.

Reason 3 – Merging Cells

You can combine two or more cells data to make one large cell. This technique is primarily used to fit the text of a title in a sheet. If there is data in two or more cells, then only the data in the top-left cell is displayed and the data in all other cells is deleted. If the other merged cells have been populated with data after merging, the data is not featured and it does not appear even after remerging the cells.

Solution – Merge Cells inside One Column

To merge cells without data loss, combine all the cells you want to merge within a column and do the following:

• Select the cells to be combined.
• Ensure that column width is wide enough to fit the contents of a cell.
• In the spreadsheet, under the Editing group, click ‘Fill,’ and then click ‘Justify.’

• Under Alignment, click on the ‘Merge & Center’ option to center align the text. Or, click on ‘Merge Cells’.

Note: This solution works for text only. You cannot use it to merge formulas or any numerical values. If you need to combine two or more cells with formula into a single cell, try using the Excel CONCAT function .

Reason 4 – Cell Formatting

Cells and text in the cells can be displayed in different colors to make the spreadsheet simple to create and infer. You may experience data loss when you try to modify the data or change the color or size of the data. Though the information may exist, the data may show an error due to the following reasons:  

• White-colored text will not show in a white-colored cell
• Large font-sized data may not appear in small-sized cell
• Calculations may show (#VALUE) error after cell-formatting

Solution – Check and Clear Formatting

Make sure to use dark-colored text on a white-colored cell. Also, resize the cell to fit the text size. Check if numbers in a cell are entered as text. If so, you need to apply a number format to the text-formatted numbers. Read more about it, from here .

What Else You Can Do to Resolve the ‘Excel Data Disappeared’ Issue?

If you can’t recover the missing Excel file data, try to repair or extract the data from the file using the built-in Excel repair tool. Follow the below steps to use the tool:

• Open MS Excel, click File > Open > Computer > Browse.
• On the ‘Open’ window, select the file you want to repair and then click on the Open dropdown.
• Select Open and Repair.

Use the ‘Repair’ option to repair the file and recover as much data as you can from the repaired file. If this doesn’t work, use the ‘Extract’ option to recover the data.

If you fail to retrieve the disappeared data from that file using the above-listed steps, opt for an Excel repair tool , like Stellar Repair for Excel. This software has a proven track record of repairing corrupt or damaged Excel files and recover all the data.

The software helps:

• Fix all corruption errors. It helps in getting back the data which has disappeared.
• Repair a single as well as multiple Excel files.
• Recover all components of XLS/XLSX files – tables, chart sheet, cell comment, image and more.
• Preserve the worksheet properties and cell formatting.
• Support the latest Excel 2019 and earlier versions.

The Excel repair software repairs the Excel file in these simple steps:

• Launch and open the software.
• Select the corrupt Excel file by using the ‘Browse’ option. If the file location is not available, then find the Excel file using the ‘Search’ option.

• Click ‘Repair’ to scan the corrupt file.

• Once the repair process is complete, verify the components of Excel file and check if the available preview shows complete data that disappeared from Excel.

• Save file at default location or preferred location.

The Excel file with all the restored data will be saved at the selected location.

Conclusion

It is better to repair the affected Excel file than suffer the loss when data or text disappears in Excel. A professional software ensures that users get back all the data in the form of a new Excel file. Stellar Repair for Excel software repairs the corrupt file without modifying the original content and file format. The software’s easy-to-use user interface lets you perform the functions without formal software training and technical expertise.

How to fix Pivot Table Field Name is not Valid error in Excel?

The Pivot Table field name is not valid error can occur while creating, modifying, or refreshing data fields in the pivot table. It can also appear when using VBA code to modify the pivot table. It usually occurs when there is an issue with the field name in a code or if there is a hidden or empty column in the pivot table. However, there could be many other reasons behind this error.

Why the “Pivot Table Field Name is not Valid” Error Occurs?

You can get the “Pivot Table field name not valid” error in Excel due to several reasons. Some possible causes are:

• Excel file is corrupted
• Damaged fields in the pivot table
• Pivot table is corrupted/damaged
• Hidden columns in the pivot table
• Macro (referring to the pivot table) is corrupted
• Preserve formatting option is enabled
• Missing or incorrect fields in the VBA code
• Issue with workbook.RefreshAll method syntax (if using)
• Pivot Table contains empty columns
• Header values or header column is missing in the Pivot Table
• Pivot table is created without headers
• Columns/rows are deleted from the Pivot Table

Methods to Fix Pivot Table Field Name is not Valid Error in Excel

You can get this error if you have selected the complete data sheet and then trying to create the Pivot Table. Make sure you choose only the data fields that you want to insert in the Pivot Table. If this is not the case, then follow the troubleshooting methods mentioned below.

Method 1: Check the Header Value in the Pivot Table

The “Pivot table field name is not valid” error can occur if you have not set up the pivot table correctly. All the columns having data in them should have header and header values. A pivot table without a header value can create issues. You can check the header and its value from the Formula bar. Change the header if the header value is too lengthy or if it contains special characters.

Method 2: Check and Change the Data Range in the Pivot Table

The “Pivot Table field name is not valid” can occur while modifying a field in Pivot Table. It usually occurs if you’re trying to add or modify the field by selecting an incorrect data range in the Create PivotTable dialog box. The “Create PivotTable“ feature helps define how data would be displayed within the pivot table.

Let’s take a scenario to understand this. Open the Excel file with PivotTable. Click on the fields (you want to add), go to the Insert option, and click PivotTable.

If you select an incorrect range, i.e. A1:E18, instead of correct range - “Expenses**!$A$3:Expenses!$A$4**,” you will immediately get the error message.

So, type the correct range under the Select a table or range option and click OK.

Method 3: Unhide Excel Columns/Rows

The error can also occur if some columns/rows of the Pivot Table’s data source are hidden. When you try to add a hidden column as a field in the PivotTable, the Excel application will fail to read the data of the hidden column. You can check and unhide the Excel columns by following these steps:

• Open the Excel file.

• Locate the hidden column number.

• Move your cursor on the hidden column number and right-click on the space between the columns. Click Unhide.

  

Method 4: Check and Delete Empty Excel Columns

Sometimes, you can get the “Pivot Table field name is not valid” error if you are trying to use an empty column as a field in your Pivot Table. Check the columns with no values in all cells. If found, then delete the empty columns. This method is ideal for small-size Excel files. However, for large-sized files, it is a time-consuming process.

Method 5: Unmerge the Column Header (If Merged)

The “Pivot Table field name is not valid” error can also occur due to merged column headers. The pivot table references headers to identify the data inside the rows or columns. The merged headers can sometimes create data inconsistencies. You can try unmerging the column headers to fix the issue. Follow these steps:

• In the Excel file, go to the Home

• Click the Merge & Center option and select Unmerge Cells from the dropdown.

  

Method 6: Disable the Background Refresh Option

If the “background refresh” option in the Excel file is enabled, it may also create issues with Pivot Table. The Excel updates all the pivot tables in the background even after a small change if the background refresh option is enabled. This may create issues if the Excel file is large with too many tables. You can try turning off the “background refresh” option in the Excel file to troubleshoot the issue. Here is how to do so:

• In the Excel file, go to the Data tab and then click Connections.

  

• In the Workbook Connectionsdialog box, click on the ‘Add’ dropdown to add the workbook (in which you need to modify the refresh settings).

  

• Once you have chosen the Excel file, click Properties.

  

• In the Connection Properties window, unselect the **”Enable background refresh”**option, select the “Refresh data when opening the file“, and click **OK.

  

  **

Method 7: Check the VBA Code

The error can also occur when working with PivotTable using VBA code in Excel. Some Excel users reported this error on forums as run-time error 1004: The PivotTable field name is not valid. This error usually occurs when there are issues in the VBA code, affecting the PivotTable data source or field references. You can check field names referring to PivotTable or Workbook.RefreshAll function syntax and other errors in the code.

Method 8: Repair your Excel File

One of the reasons behind the “Pivot Table field name is not valid” error is corruption in the Excel file, containing the Pivot Table. You can repair your Excel file using Microsoft built-in utility - Open and Repair. Here’s how to use this utility:

• In Excel, navigate to File > Open.

• Click Browse to choose the affected workbook.

• The Open dialog box will appear. Click on the corrupted file.

• Click the arrow next to the Openbutton and then select Open and Repair.

• You will see a dialog box with three buttons - Repair, Extract Data, and Cancel.

  

• Click on the Repair button to recover as much of the data as possible.

• After repair, a message is displayed. Click Close.

Method 9: Use a Professional Excel Repair Tool

If the Excel file is heavily damaged or corrupted, then the “Open and Repair” utility may not work or provide the intended results. In such a case, you can opt for a professional Excel repair tool. Stellar Repair for Excel is an advanced Excel file repair tool, which is highly recommended by experts. It can repair severely corrupted Excel files and restore all the data from corrupt file, including pivot tables. This tool comes with a user-friendly interface that even a non-technical user can use. You can try the software’s demo version to check how it works. The software is fully compatible with all Excel versions, including Excel 2019.

Conclusion

The Excel error “Pivot Table field name is not valid” can occur due to hidden or merged column/row headers, empty columns/rows, corrupted pivot table, and various other reasons. You can try the methods mentioned above to fix the error. If this error has occurred due to corruption in the Excel file, then you can use Stellar Repair for Excel - an advanced tool to repair corrupted pivot table, macros, fields, or other elements in an Excel file. It is compatible with all Windows editions, including the latest Windows 11. It can help fix the error if the data source or Pivot table configuration is affected by corruption.

Fixed “Cannot Insert Object” Error in Excel | Step-by-Step Guide

Summary: The error “cannot insert object” in MS Excel can prevent you from modifying objects in the worksheet. This blog will discuss the primary reasons behind this error and the possible solutions to fix it. You will also learn about a professional Excel repair software that can help fix the error if it has occurred due to corruption in Excel file.

Many users have reported encountering the “cannot insert object” error while adding/embedding objects into the Excel file. It usually occurs when using Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) to add content (PDF, Microsoft documents) from external applications to worksheet. The error can also occur when using ActiveX control in Excel. Below, we’ll explain why you cannot insert object into Excel sheet and how to troubleshoot the issue.

Why the “Cannot Insert Object” Error Occurs?

• Macro Settings can prevent the insertion of objects into a workbook.
• The Excel file in which you are trying to add an element is corrupted.
• The object (you are inserting into the workbook) is damaged.
• Object size limitations.
• System’s insufficient memory might prevent new objects’ addition.
• Incompatible Excel file format.
• Add-ins controls are disabled.
• Incompatible or faulty Add-ins.
• Issue with Security Settings.

Methods to Fix the “Cannot Insert Object” Error in Excel

You may encounter the “Cannot insert object” error when trying to add an element stored on a network. It can occur due to issues with the file link, such as incorrect file location. In such a case, you can check the link by selecting the link to file option from the Insert tab.

Sometimes, the error can occur if the file in which you are trying to insert the object is locked and password-protected. In this case, you can unprotect the Excel file . If the issue still persists, then you can follow the below methods.

Method 1: Check and Change Restricted Security Settings

Excel provides security settings to protect your workbook. Sometimes, these settings can prevent inserting objects in the file. You can change the security settings to allow Excel to insert objects. To do so, follow these steps:

• Open your Excel application.
• Locate the File and then click Options.
• In Excel Options, click Trust Center.

• Click Trust Center Settings.
• In the Trust Center Settings window, select Protected View from the left pane.

• Under Protected View, unselect the below three options:
• Enable Protected View for files originating from the internet.
• Enable Protected View for files located in potentially unsafe locations.
• Enable Protected View for Outlook attachments.

• Click OK.
• Once you’re done with this, click on Macro Settings in the Trust Center window.
• Under Macro Settings, make sure “Disable all macros without notification” is not selected. If it is selected, then unselect it. After that, click OK.

• Restart Excel to apply the changes.

Method 2: Uninstall Microsoft Office Updates

You can also encounter the “Cannot insert object” error in Excel after installing MS Office updates. It might be due to the issues with the installed updates. To fix this, you can uninstall the recently installed Office updates. To uninstall the Office updates, follow these steps:

• Go to the system’s Control Panel.
• Click Programs and then click Program and Features.
• Search for “View Installed Updates” and click on the desired Office updates.
• Right-click on it and then click Uninstall.
• Follow the uninstallation steps on the screen.
• Once the process is complete, restart the system.

Method 3: Check Memory Usage

The “Cannot insert object” issue can also occur if your system is low on memory. You can check and close unnecessary processes and applications running in the background to free up memory. To do so, follow these steps:

• Press CTRL + ALT + DEL on the keyboard and click Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab and search for any unnecessary processes.
• Right-click on the process and then select End Task.
• Restart Excel to see if the issue is fixed.

Method 4: Check Excel File Size

If your Excel file size exceeds the prescribed limit, it can also lead to the “Cannot insert Excel object” error. So, check the Excel file size. You can reduce the file size by removing unnecessary objects, such as formulas or images.

Method 5: Check and Change Excel ActiveX Settings

You can get the “Excel cannot insert object” error if your Excel file contains macros, controls, and other interactive buttons. It usually occurs if the ActiveX Controls option is disabled. You can check and change the ActiveX Settings to fix the issue. Here are the steps:

• Open your Excel application.
• Navigate to File and then click Options.
• In Excel Options, click the Trust Center tab.
• In the Trust Center Settings, click ActiveX Settings.
• Under ActiveX Settings, make sure the “Enable all controls without restrictions and without prompting” option is selected.

• If the option is not selected, then select it and click OK.
• Restart the Excel and check if the error is fixed or not.

Method 6: Repair the Excel Workbook

The “Cannot insert object” error can occur if the object you are trying to insert is corrupted or the file in which you are inserting the object is damaged. If the issue has occurred due to a corrupted Excel file, then you can repair the file using the Open and Repair utility in MS Excel. To use this Microsoft-inbuilt utility, follow these steps:

• In the Excel application, go to the File tab and then click Open.
• Click Browse to choose the affected file.
• The Open dialog box is displayed. Click on the corrupted file.
• Click on the arrow next to the Open button and then click Open and Repair.
• Click on Repair.

• After repair, a message will appear (as shown in the below figure).

• Click Close.

If the Open and Repair utility fails to fix the issue, then try a professional Excel Repair software, like Stellar Repair for Excel. It is designed to repair severely corrupted Excel files. It can restore all the Excel file objects, such as tables, charts, formulas, etc. It helps fix all types of corruption related errors. The software is compatible with all versions of Excel.

Conclusion

You might encounter the “Cannot insert object” error when embedding or inserting objects in Excel. In this post, we have discussed the possible solutions to fix this error. We have also mentioned an Excel repair software that can help to easily repair the corrupted Excel file and recover all the data. You can download the Stellar Repair for Excel’s free demo version to preview the recoverable objects of the corrupted Excel file.

[Fixed] Excel PivotTable Overlap Error | Troubleshooting Guide

In Excel, you need to refresh the pivot table data source after adding new data. However, sometimes, while refreshing the pivot table, you may experience an error “PivotTable Report cannot Overlap.” This issue usually appears when there are multiple pivot tables in a single worksheet. It often occurs when you try to place one pivot table on top of another or if you try to set a common cell range to multiple pivot tables. However, there are many other causes associated with the error.

Reasons for a pivot table report cannot overlap another pivot table report issue:

• Merged cells in a pivot table may cause the overlap issue
• Using the same range of cells for multiple pivot tables
• Hidden columns
• Preserve formatting option is enabled
• Modifying the pivot table using a macro that is corrupted
• Using the workbook.RefreshAll method incorrectly
• Number of pivot items goes beyond the number of cells available
• Excel file is corrupt
• Corrupted Pivot table
• Some columns are labeled with the same name

Methods to Fix Excel PivotTable Report Cannot Overlap Error

You can get the pivot table overlapping issue if the field in pivot table crossed the maximum items limit. According to the Microsoft guide, you can specify up to 1,048,576 items to return per field. Check the cell fields in your pivot table. Also, make sure each column’s label is unique. Sometimes, the hidden columns or hidden sheets can also prevent you from modifying the pivot tables. You can check for hidden columns in the Data view.

If the error still persists, then try the below-mentioned methods to fix the error.

1. Move the Pivot Table to a New Worksheet

The “PivotTable Report cannot Overlap” error can occur if there is an issue with the columns in the pivot table. In this case, you can try moving the pivot table to a new worksheet. Moving the pivot table to a different worksheet automatically resets the column width according to the new sheet and creates space that can help in preventing the overlapping issue. Here are the steps to do so:

2. Disable the Background Refresh Option

When the background refresh option is enabled, then Excel updates the pivot table in the background after every minor change. It may create issue if you have a large-sized Excel file with multiple pivot tables. You can try disabling the background refresh option. Here’s how:

• The Connection Properties dialog box is displayed. Unselect the “Enable background refresh” option and select the “Refresh data when opening the file”

• Click **OK.

  

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3. Disable Autofit Column Widths

When the Autofit column widths option is enabled, Excel automatically resizes the pivot table whenever you make changes to it. These automatic adjustments can sometimes add or remove fields which can result in the PivotTable Report cannot Overlap issue. To fix this, you can disable the “Autofit column widths on update” option. To do this, follow these steps:

• Right-click on any field on the pivot table.

• Select **PivotTable Options.

  

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• In the PivotTable Options window, unselect Autofit column widths on update.

  

• Click on the OK.

4. Check the Workbook.RefreshAll Method

Several users have reported experiencing the “Excel PivotTable Report cannot Overlap” error when using the Workbook.RefreshAll method. This method is used to refresh data ranges in the pivot report. Sometimes, the error can occur due to missing variable that is representing an object (workbook) in a query. So, make sure you’re using the Workbook.RefreshAll function correctly.

5. Repair your Excel File

You may also encounter the “A PivotTable Report cannot Overlap” error if the Excel file is corrupted. You can use the inbuilt utility in Excel - Open and Repair to repair the corrupt file. Here’s how:

• In your Excel application, click on the File tab and then click Open.
• Click Browse to select the desired file.
• In the Open dialog box, click on the corrupted file.
• Click on the arrow next to the Open button and then click Open and Repair.
• Click on the Repair
• In the displayed message, click Close.

If the “Open and Repair” utility fails to fix the issue, then it means there is high level of corruption in the Excel file. To tackle this, you can take the help of a professional Excel file repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. The tool can easily repair severely corrupted Excel file and recover all the objects of the file, such as pivot tables, macros, charts, etc. with 100% integrity. You can download the free trial version of the tool to check its functionality.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed the possible reasons behind the “PivotTable Report cannot overlap” error in Excel. You can follow the methods mentioned above to fix the issue. The error may also occur if the Excel file gets corrupted. In this case, you can try repairing the corrupted Excel file using the Open and Repair utility or consider using Stellar Repair for Excel . The tool makes the process of repairing the Excel file smooth and quick.