How to Repair Corrupt Excel Workbook? | Stellar

How to Repair Corrupt Excel Workbook? | Stellar

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How to Repair Corrupt Excel Workbook?

Summary: Corruption in an Excel workbook could lead to data loss. This blog outlines the possible reasons behind corrupted workbook and describes how to repair the workbook manually and using an Excel repair tool.

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Is your Excel behaving differently, for instance, stops responding or freezes? Or have you encountered a warning or an error message indicating corruption in the Excel workbook?

Corruption in Excel File

Figure 1 - Corruption Warning in Excel: The corrupt workbook cannot be opened or repaired

Excel file Corruption Message

Figure 2 - Excel File Corruption Message

In any of these situations, you won?t be able to open your Excel workbook.

TIP! If you?re unable to open an Excel workbook, it does not necessarily mean that the workbook is corrupt. Try a few workarounds to resolve the issue, like disabling the ?Protected View Settings?, disabling add-ins, or moving the workbook to another drive.

You will need to repair the corrupted Excel workbook to make it usable. Before discussing the repair methods, let?s first look at the possible reasons behind file corruption.

To jump to methods to repair the workbook, click here .

Possible Reasons behind Corrupted Excel Workbook

  • Large size of a workbook: A workbook containing lots of information or objects like images, shaded cells, or other visual representations is prone to corruption.
  • Unexpected system shutdown or power loss: If you haven?t saved your Excel file, abrupt system shutdown or power failure can corrupt the data and render the file inaccessible.
  • Bad sectors on storage media: Accumulation of bad sectors on storage media on which Excel files are saved is another reason that may lead to Excel file corruption.

Other common reasons causing Excel file corruption are virus attack, network errors, etc.

Methods to Repair Corrupted Excel Workbook

Note: Repairing the corrupt workbook may result in data loss. And so, it?s recommended to back up the workbook before attempting to repair the file.

Method 1 ? Repair the Excel Workbook Manually

Use the Excel ?Open and Repair? feature to repair your corrupt workbook manually. Here?s how:

Step 1: In Excel, click the File tab and then click Open.

Step 2: Select the corrupt Excel file, click the arrow button next to the Open button and then select Open and Repair.

Excel Open and Repair Feature

Figure 3 - Excel Open and Repair Feature

Step 3: In Microsoft Excel dialog box that opens, click Repair to begin repairing your corrupt workbook.

Repair the Microsoft Excel File

Figure 4 - Repair the Microsoft Excel File

Note: If the Excel repair process fails, repeat Steps 1 till 3 and click the ?Extract Data? button. This will help you extract values and formulas from the corrupted workbook.

Performing these steps will repair your Excel file. If the issue persists, skip to the next method.

Method 2 ? Use Excel File Repair Software

If the above method failed to fix corruption in the workbook, use Excel file repair software to repair your workbook quickly. This Excel repair tool is purpose-built to help users repair large-sized Excel files (.xlsx and .xls) in just a few clicks. Also, it helps recover all the data from the corrupted workbook while preserving the cell formatting and worksheet properties.

Steps to Repair Corrupt Excel File Using the Software

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

Free Download for windows ](https://tools.techidaily.com/stellardata-recovery/repaire-for-excel/ )

Step 2: Click Browse to select your corrupted .xlsx or .xls file. If you are not aware of the file location, click Search to locate and select the file.

Select Corrupt Excel Workbook

Figure 5 - Select Corrupt Excel Workbook

Step 3: Once the file is selected, click Repair.

Step 4: A preview of recoverable workbook data gets displayed.

Preview of Recoverable Excel Workbook Data

Figure 6 - Preview of Recoverable Excel Workbook Data

Note: You will need to activate the licensed version of Stellar Repair for Excel software for saving the repaired file. Once activated, proceed with the steps below to save the repaired file.

Step 5: Click Save File on the File menu. This will open a Save File dialog box with options to save the repaired .xlsx/.xls file at default or new location. After choosing the appropriate option, click OK.

Save Repaired Excel File

Figure 7 - Save Repaired Excel File

The repaired file will get saved at the selected location.

Key Features of Stellar Repair for Excel Software
  • Repairs severely corrupt Excel file and recovers pivots, pivot tables, conditional formatting rules, chart, chart sheets, etc.
  • Can repair multiple Excel files in a batch simultaneously
  • Can handle all types of Excel file corruption errors, like ?Excel found unreadable content in filename.xls?, ?Excel cannot open the file filename.xlsx?, etc.
  • Supports repairing corrupt workbooks of Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2007, 2003, and lower versions.

End Note

If your Excel workbook has turned corrupt, try using the methods discussed in this blog to repair the workbook. Once it is repaired, you must follow preventive measures to avoid your Excel file from getting corrupt. Some of these measures are as follows:

  • Reduce the size of your workbook by:

    • Removing unused data
    • Saving images at lower resolutions
    • Avoid saving pivot table cache
  • Turn on the ?AutoRecover? and ?AutoSave? features in Excel

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.

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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”.

Image of Excel Found Unreadable Content error message

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

 “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened”.

Image Of Excel File Corruption error Message

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”.

Image of Excel File Format Or Extension is Not Valid error message

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.

Image of Open and Repair in-built utility

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

Image of Excel warning message after using open and repair in-built utility.

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).

Image of Moving Excel File to a Different Location

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.

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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.

Image of Stellar Excel Repair software start screen.
Click on Select File -> Browse

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.

Image of Repair Process window after selecting the files to be repaired

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

Image of Preview of Repaired File

Step 5: Click Save File on Home menu.

Image of Save File Button 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.

Image of save File window

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.

Fix Cannot Paste the Data Error in Microsoft Excel

When copying and pasting the cell contents or attributes from one workbook to another, you can encounter the “Cannot paste the data” error. The error indicates that the values you are trying to paste do not match the cell format (Currency, Date, Text, etc.) used in the column. The error can occur if you are attempting to paste information into a merged cell. You can also get this error if the data you are trying to paste contains more columns than the destination worksheet can accept or if the copy area and paste area aren’t the same size.

Why you cannot Paste the Data in Microsoft Excel?

You can experience the “Excel cannot paste the data” error due to one of the following reasons:

  • Locked cells
  • Data size limitation
  • Formatting issues
  • The file size is too large
  • Overloaded clipboard
  • Data type mismatch
  • Invalid range
  • Lack of permissions
  • Excel file is corrupted
  • Compatibility issues
  • While pasting the merged cells

Methods to Fix MS Excel Cannot Paste the Data Error

The “Microsoft Excel cannot paste the data” error usually appears when copying and pasting data within the spreadsheet. It primarily affects the copy-and-paste feature within the Excel file. However, the impact of this error may vary with the data you are working with. When this error occurs, first try restarting the Excel application. Ensure that you’ve saved all your important data before restarting the application to prevent data loss. If, after performing this basic step, you still face the issue, then try the following troubleshooting methods.

Method 1: Check and Unlock Cells in Excel

You can get the Excel cannot paste the data error if the cells you are trying to paste in the Excel file are locked. You can check and unlock the specific cells in the Excel file using the below steps:

  • Go to the Home tab in your Excel file and click Format Cell Font popup launcher.

Clicking Cell Font In Home

  • In the Format Cells dialog box, click Protection.

Selecting Protection from Font family with formatting

  • Under the Protection option, unselect the locked field and then click OK.

Click on Locked Cell under Protection Tab

Method 2: Check and Fix the Cell Format

Sometimes, you can get the “Cannot paste the data” error in Excel if there is an issue with the formatting of the cells in the column (in which you are trying to paste the data). You can check whether the cell formats of the columns of the source file (from where you are copying data) match the destination file (in which you are pasting the cell data). If not, then change the cell format. Here’s how to do so:

  • In the Excel file, click on the affected column heading (whose cells you need to modify).
  • Navigate to the Home tab and click the General dropdown menu.

Navigate to Home and Click general drop down menu in Excel

  • Click on the desired cell format that matches the values you are trying to paste into the column.

Method 3: Check Copy and Paste Area Size

The “data cannot be pasted” issue can also occur if Excel detects the copy area of the range of cells is not of the same size and shape as that of the paste area. So, make sure the size of the range of cells for the paste area is same as the copied area. To ensure this, you can try the following:

  • Use Upper-left Cell

 You can select the upper-left cell instead of the complete range to paste.

  • Use Paste Special Option

  • You can use the Paste Special option to paste the data. To use this option, go to Home > Paste Special.

Navigate to Home And click on Paste Special in Excel

  • You can choose from the different options, such as paste all, formulas, operations, Transpose, skip blanks, etc. to take control over how the data is pasted.

Click on Paste and Selection of Operations from Paste Special Properties

Method 4: Check and Unmerge Cells

The merged cells in the workbook can create discrepancies when copying and pasting data. These can create mismatch between the source and destination cell areas, resulting in errors. Make sure you are not pasting the data copied from merged cells. You can check and unmerge the cells using the below steps:

  • Open the Excel file (in which you are copying data) and go to the Home tab.
  • Click Merge & Center > Unmerge Cells.

Under Excel Navigate to Home and click on Merge and Center

Method 5: Unselect the Excel DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) Option

Sometimes, you can get the Excel cannot paste the data error while copying and pasting data from Excel file to external data sources or applications. It usually appears if you have established DDE links between them. To resolve this, you can uncheck the “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)” option. Follow the below steps to do so:

  • Open your Excel file.
  • Go to File > Options.

In Excel Options, click Advanced and unselect “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). Click OK.

Under Excel Navigate to Home and click on Merge and Center

Here are some additional solutions you can try to fix the “Cannot paste the data” error in Excel

Check the Excel File Format

Sometimes, the copy and paste error can occur if you try to move data from an older version of Excel file (XLS) into a newer version file (XLSX) or vice versa. You can try to change or convert the file format to resolve the issue.

Clear Clipboard

Too many items on the clipboard can prevent you from copying and pasting the data. You can empty your clipboard  by deleting all clips. To do this, go to Home and click the Clipboard option.

Change the Column’s Cell Format

You can get the “Cannot paste the data” error when the information you need to paste does not match the cell format in the column. In such a case, you can change the column’s cell format. To do this, navigate to the Home option and then click on the General menu arrow. Then, change the cell format suitable to the type of information you are trying to paste in that column.

Add Columns

The copy-and-paste error in Excel can also occur if there are not enough columns to accept the data that you are trying to paste. You can insert more columns and then try copying and pasting data. To insert additional columns, click on the column heading, click Home, and then select Insert.

Remove Incompatible Add-ins

Sometimes, incompatible or faulty add-ins can also create conflicts with Excel’s clipboard operations, leading to the error. To check if add-ins are causing the issue, open the Excel file in safe mode. In safe mode, if you are able to paste the data, then check and uninstall the incompatible Excel Add-ins.

What to do if Nothing Works?

If the above methods do not work, then corruption in the Excel file could be the cause of the “Cannot paste the data” error. In such a case, you can use Excel’s built-in Open and Repair utility to repair the corrupted file. Here’s how to use this utility to repair the Excel file:

  • Open your Excel application.
  • Navigate to File and then click Open.
  • Click the Browse option to select the affected Excel file.
  • The Open dialog box opens up. Click on the corrupted file.
  • From the Open dropdown, select the Open and Repair option.
  • The Excel will prompt you to choose one of the below options:
  • Repair
  • Extract
  • Cancel
  • Select the Repair option to extract maximum data from the file. If the Repair option fails, choose the Extract option to recover the data, excluding formulas and values.

 The Open and Repair utility may not be able to repair your Excel file if it is severely corrupted. In such a situation, the best possible way out is to use a professional Excel repair software to repair the file. You can try Stellar Repair for Excel. It can repair highly damaged or corrupted Excel (.xls, .xlsx, .xltm, .xltx, or .xlsm) file and recover all the objects from the file by maintaining the original formatting. The tool supports 2007 and higher editions of MS Excel. You can download the demo version of the software to preview the repaired objects and verify its functionality.

Conclusion

The “Excel cannot paste the data” error in Excel can occur due to different factors. You can check and clear the clipboard, unmerge the cells, unlock the cells, and use various other methods mentioned above to troubleshoot the error. If you fail to copy and paste the data due to file corruption, then opt for an advanced Excel repair software, like Stellar Repair for Excel. It is a reliable tool that can help you repair highly damaged/corrupted Excel files. It enables you to recover all the objects from the corrupted Excel file, with complete integrity.

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.

free download

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

Stellar Repair for Excel - Main Interface

  • 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 excel file

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

repair 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.

Preview

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

Save file

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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How to Fix ‘Sharing Violation Error’ when Saving Excel?

Summary: You may encounter the sharing violation error in Excel when you repeatedly save changes in a workbook. The error can occur due to different reasons. In this blog, we will discuss the possible reasons behind this sharing violation error and some effective solutions to fix it. If the issue has occurred due to corruption in Excel file, you can try the advanced Excel repair tool mentioned in the post to repair the corrupted file.

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It is not uncommon to encounter errors while working with Excel application. One common error that Excel users face is the sharing violation error that occurs while saving an Excel spreadsheet. The complete error message says, “Your changes could not be saved to file because of a sharing violation.” When this error occurs, users won’t be able to save the changes in the file. So, it is important to fix this issue as soon as possible. But before fixing the error, let’s find out the causes behind this error.

Causes of Excel Sharing Violation Error

This error may pop up due to the below reasons:

  • The file you are trying to save is corrupted.
  • The Excel file is not in the trusted location.
  • Sharing Wizard is disabled.
  • You do not have permission to modify the Excel file.
  • The Excel file is not permitted to get indexed.

Methods to Fix the Sharing Violation Error in Excel

You can move the affected Excel file to a new folder and save it with a different name. Then, see if it fixes the error. If it doesn’t help, you can try the below methods.

Method 1: Check and Change the Excel File Properties

You can get the sharing violation error in Excel if the file attribute options, such as “File is ready for archiving” and “Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file properties” are disabled. You can check the File Properties and enable these options to fix the issue. Here are the steps:

  • Right-click on any Excel file and select Properties.

Click On Properties Option

  • In the Properties window, click on the Advanced option.

Click On Advanced Button On Properties Window

  • In the Advanced Attributes window, select the below options under File attributes:
  • File is ready for archiving.
  • Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file properties.

Select File Is Ready For Archiving Option

  • Click OK.

Note: If these options are already selected, then unselect and re-select them.

Method 2: Enable Sharing Wizard Option

The error “Your changes could not be saved to file because of a sharing violation” can also occur if the sharing wizard option is disabled on your system. You can check and enable the sharing wizard option using these steps:

  • Go to your system’s Documents folder.
  • Click View > Options > Change folders and search options.

Click View Option In Documents

  • In the Folder Options window, click View.

In Folder Options Click On View

  • Under the View section, search for the “Use Sharing Wizard” option in the Advanced Settings.

Select Use Sharing Wizard

  • If the Use Sharing Wizard option is unselected, select it and then click OK.

Method 3: Move the Excel File to a Trusted Location

You can encounter the sharing violation error if the file you are trying to save is not in the trusted location. You can try moving the file to a trusted location by following these steps:

  • In Excel, go to File and then click Options.
  • Click Trust Center and then click Trust Center Settings.

Click Trust Center Settings In Trust Center

  • In the Trust Center window, click Trusted Locations and then click Add new location.

Click On Add New Location Option

  • In the Add new location window, select Browse to locate and choose the folder, and then click OK.

Method 4: Open Excel in Safe Mode

Incompatible add-ins can create issues in the Excel file. To check if the sharing violation issue has occurred due to add-ins, open Excel in safe mode. To do so, follow these steps:

  • Open the Run window using Windows + R.

Type Safe Mode Command In Excel

  • Type excel /safe and click on OK.
  • Open the affected file and then try to save the changes.
  • If you are able to save the changes without any error, then it indicates add-ins are causing the issue. To fix this, you can remove the recently downloaded add-ins (if any).

Method 5: Repair the Excel File

Corruption in Excel file can also create issue while saving the changes. In such a case, you can repair the corrupted Excel file using the inbuilt utility in Excel, named Open and Repair. Follow these steps to use this utility:

  • In Excel, navigate to File > Open > Browse.
  • In the Open dialog box, click on the affected Excel file.
  • Click the arrow next to the Open button and select Open and Repair from the dropdown.
  • Click on the Repair option to recover as much data from the file as possible.

If the above utility fails to fix the corrupt Excel file, then you can use a more powerful Excel repair tool , such as Stellar Repair for Excel. This Excel repair tool can repair even severely corrupted or damaged Excel files (xls, .xlsx, .xltm, .xltx, and .xlsm). This tool can recover all the data from the corrupted Excel file, including images, chart sheets, formulas, etc., without changing the original format. It can help in fixing common corruption-related errors in Excel. You can download the software’s demo version to scan the corrupt file.

To Conclude

Above, we have discussed some effective methods to fix the sharing violation error in Excel. This error may also occur if you try to save the Excel file in an incompatible format. So, check the format and try saving the file in a compatible format. If the error occurs due to Excel file corruption, you can repair corrupt Excel file using the Open and Repair tool. If nothing works, then download a third-party Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. It is an advanced tool that can fix severely corrupted Excel files. You can install this repair tool on any Windows system.

Recover Corrupted Excel File 2007, 2010 | Easy Methods

There are several reasons that can cause Microsoft Excel workbooks to turn corrupt, such as virus attack, bad sectors on a drive on which Excel file is saved, system shutdown without properly closing the Excel application, etc.

Corruption in an Excel workbook can result in data loss or render the workbook inaccessible. Fortunately, Excel automatically starts recovery upon opening a corrupted Excel file. But, if it fails, you can manually repair the file or extract data from the corrupt file.

Quick Solution: Performing 2007, 2010 Excel repair or recovery process manually can be time-consuming. Also, manual workarounds to recover corrupt Excel workbook does not guarantee recovering the complete workbook data. Use Stellar Repair for Excel software to repair single or multiple Excel (XLS/XLSX) files in 3 simple steps. The software also helps recover the Excel file, keeping the data intact.

How to Fix Microsoft Excel 2010 & 2007 Files Corruption?

Microsoft Excel comes with an inbuilt repair utility, called ‘Open and Repair’, that helps fix and recover corrupted Excel files.

Steps to Repair MS Excel 2010 Files Manually

The detailed steps to open and repair Excel 2010 are as follows:

  • Open Microsoft Excel 2010 and click File from the main menu.

Microsoft Excel 2010 File Menu

  • Next, click Open.

Select Open Option

  • Browse the corrupt Excel 2010 file on your computer and select it in the Open dialog.

Browse Corrupt Excel 2010 File

  • Click the arrow next to the Open button and choose Open and Repair.

Select Open and Repair

  • Click Repair when prompted to recover data to the maximum.
  • If Excel fails to repair, click Extract Data to extract values and formulas in the corrupt file.
  • Excel prompts to ‘Convert to Values’ or ‘Recover Formulas’.
  • Click Yes if it prompts the following error:

“The document file name caused a serious error the last time it was opened. Would you like to continue opening it?

  • When Excel opens the last saved file, save it.

Once you’re able to access the last saved 2010 Excel file, try extracting the file contents.

Save Excel 2010 File in HTML Format

If you can open the Excel file, choose the HTML format to save it in filtered form. After that, close the Excel file as you have your data in the HTML file. The steps to save an Excel file in HTML format are as follows:

  • Open Microsoft Excel 2010, click Save As, and then choose Web Page in the ‘Save as’ type drop-down list.
  • Select the “Enable Entire Workbook” option, and then click the Save button.
  • Close the Excel file and reopen your Microsoft Excel application. Browse the HTML file that you have saved.
  • Click File from the main menu, and select Save As in the list.
  • Type-in a different name, choose Microsoft Excel Workbook in the ‘Save as’ type drop-down menu, and then click the Save button.

With this, you would be able to access the data in the corrupt Excel file.

If the inbuilt tool fails to repair Excel 2010 file, a few methods can help you recover data from corrupted or lost workbook manually.

Steps to Repair Excel 2007 Files Manually

Follow these steps to repair a corrupted 2007 Excel file by using the inbuilt Microsoft Excel repair tool:

  • Open Microsoft Excel 2007, click the Office button, and then select Open.

Open Microsoft Excel 2007 Main Menu

  • In the Open dialog box that pops-up, browse and select the corrupt Excel 2007 file. Click the arrow next to the Open button and choose Open and Repair.

Open and Repair Excel 2007 File

  • Click Repair when prompted to recover as much data as you can from Excel 2007 file.

Repair Excel 2007 File

  • If a repair fails, follow steps 1 till 3, and then click Extract Data to extract values and formulas from the corrupt file.
  • In the window that appears, click Convert to Values or Recover Formulas to extract workbook data.

Recover Excel 2007 File

Note: The built-in Microsoft Excel 2007 repair tool may fail to resolve Excel corruption issue. Also, choosing to extract data from the workbook involves data loss risk. Using a professional Excel repair tool, however, can resolve all types of Excel file corruption errors and restore all its data.

Methods to Recover Data from Corrupt Excel 2010 & 2007 Files

If the ‘Open and Repair’ feature fails in getting your Excel 2010, 2007 file repaired, you can try retrieving the file contents by following some manual methods. However, the methods may vary depending on whether you can open a workbook or not.

Method 1 – Move Corrupt Excel File to another System

Move the corrupt Excel file to any other computer and try opening it in MS Excel 2010/2007. Doing so, may help you resolves disk or network-related errors leading to Excel file corruption.

Method 2 – Revert Unsaved Excel File to its Last Saved Version

If an Excel file turns corrupt while working on it but before saving any changes, try reverting it to its last saved version. To do so, perform the following:

  • Open your Excel application, click the Office button, and then click Open from the menu.
  • Browse the corrupt Excel file, click Yes when prompted to revert to its last saved version.

What if Nothing Works?

If you fail to recover a corrupt Excel 2007/2010 file, perform Excel file recovery with Stellar Excel repair software. The software is specially designed to help users fix their corrupted XLS/XLSX files quickly and easily without any technical assistance. It also helps restore all the file data to its original form.

Free download Stellar Repair for Excel

Points to Remember

  • Close all the MS Excel instances before using the software
  • If the sheet you are repairing contains engineering formulas, please include ‘Analysis TooPak’ manually from Tools > Add-Ins

If you know the corrupt Excel 2007 or 2010 file location, click Browse to choose the file. Otherwise, click Search. Follow the below steps to recover data from corrupt Excel 2007/2010 file by using Stellar Excel repair tool:

Select Corrupt Excel File in Stellar Repair for Excel

  • Click the Repair button to scan the file.

Repair Excel File using Stellar Repair for Excel

  • Once the scanning process is complete, the software shows a preview of recoverable Excel file items.

Preview of Recoverable Excel File Items

  • To save the repaired file, click the Save File option on File menu.

Choose Save File

  • In ‘Save File’ dialog box, choose to recover Excel 2007 & 2010 data to either the Default or New location. Click OK.

File Saving Options

The repaired Excel file gets saved at the specified location.

Preventive Measures to Avoid Losing Excel File Data

The above-discussed methods might help salvage your data. But, it is recommended that you must take some preventive measures to avoid losing the data. One such important measure is backing up a copy of your workbook automatically. Doing so, will help you get back data in case the workbook is accidentally deleted or corrupted.

Steps to Create Backup Copy Automatically

You can automatically create an Excel backup copy by following these steps:

  • Click Save As from the main menu of your Excel application.
  • Browse to the location where the corrupt Excel 2010/2007 file is saved.

Browse the Excel File Location

  • In ‘Save As’ dialog box, click the arrow next to Tools button (given at the bottom left corner) and choose General Options.

Choose General Options

  • In ‘General Options’ box, check Always create backup checkbox, and then click OK.

Select Always Create Backup

With this, you instructed MS Excel to create a backup of every Excel file you create or open for work.

Conclusion

This article outlined the typical reasons resulting in a corrupt Excel 2010 or 2007 file, such as virus infection, bad sectors on drive, etc. It explained how to fix a corrupted Excel file by using the inbuilt MS ‘Open and Repair’ tool. The article also discussed methods to recover Excel files in MS Office 2010 & 2007 when the Microsoft Excel repair tool fails. Further, it explained how using a professional repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Excel can come in handy when the manual methods to repair and recover Excel 2007 and 2010 file fails. But, keep in mind, a workbook may get corrupt again. And so, make sure to automatically backup your workbook to avoid losing its data.

How to Repair Corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel File?

Summary: If you are not able to perform any action on the Pivot Table of MS Excel file, it indicates Excel Pivot Table corruption. In such a case, you must repair the corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel file by using an Excel repair software or manual troubleshooting steps discussed in this post.

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MS Excel is equipped with several brilliant features and functions which make working with large volumes of data easy. In addition to helping users save data into well-organized cells and tables, the application helps users draw inferences from the data. Pivot Table is one such Excel feature that helps users extract the gist from a large number of rowed data. But often, the Pivot table may get corrupted and lead to unexpected errors or data loss.

Corrupt Pivot Tables can stop users from reopening previously saved Excel workbooks, raising the serious issue of data inaccessibility. Resolving such issues is an uphill task unless one gets to the actual root cause of the problem.

However, with Stellar Repair for Excel software, you can repair the corrupt Pivot table of MS Excel file while keeping the Excel file data, formatting, layout, etc. intact.

Repair Corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel File

Excel Pivot Tables & Associated Problems

Pivot Tables in Microsoft Excel are created by applying an operation such as sorting, averaging, or summing to the data in certain tables. The results of the operation are saved as summarized data in other tables. Typically, working on the grouping of saved data, Pivot Tables are used in data processing and are found in data visualization programs, such as spreadsheets or business intelligence software.

Put simply, Pivot Tables in Excel allow you to extract the significance or the gist from a large, detailed data set by allowing you to slice-and-dice data, sort-and-filter data, or arrange it in any way you want.

Frequently Encountered Problems with Pivot Tables in MS Excel

Take a look at the most frequently encountered Pivot Table issues:

  • You add new data into a pivot table but it doesn’t show up when you refresh
  • Pivot Table contains Blanks instead of Zeros for fields that have no source data
  • Automatic field names assigned by the Pivot Table can be inappropriate
  • It doesn’t directly show the percentage of total
  • Grouping one pivot table affects another
  • Your number of formatting gets lost
  • Refreshing a pivot table messes up column widths
  • Field headings make no sense and add clutter

While some of the above problems seem minute and can easily be resolved using a few tweaks, bigger issues like unexpected Pivot Table error messages that an Excel throws can be troublesome.

Pivot Table Errors & Their Reasons

Excel users who have built new Pivot Tables in Excel often report the following errors when trying to reopen a previously saved workbook:

We found a problem with some content in . Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can? If you trust the source of this workbook, click Yes.

Pivot Table Corruption error in Excel File

Naturally, users are prompted to click on ‘Yes’. But when they do, they get another error message saying:

Removed Part: /xl/pivotCache/pivotCacheDefinition1.xml part with XML error

(PivotTable cache) Load error. Line 2, column 0

Removed Feature: PivotTable report from /xl/pivotTables/pivotTable1.xml part (PivotTable view)

Such errors are indicative of the fact that the data within the Pivot Table still exists, but the table itself isn’t functioning anymore.

There could be two primary reasons behind such behavior:

  • You’ve created the Pivot Table in an older version of Excel but are trying to open-refresh-save it through a newer Excel version
  • The Pivot Table itself is corrupted

How to Repair the Pivot Table Quickly?

To solve the errors associated with Pivot Tables, you need to repair them. But Microsoft doesn’t offer any inbuilt technique or option to repair Pivot Tables. Thus, to fix the issue, you either need some sort of workaround or an Excel file repair software .

Methods to Fix Corrupt Pivot Table in MS Excel

Though there aren’t many options to fix the Pivot Table, you can follow these workarounds to try and repair a corrupt Pivot Table of MS Excel. However, before following these steps, create a backup copy of your Excel file.

Method 1: Open MS Excel in Safe Mode

First, try opening the Excel file in safe mode  and then check if you can access the Pivot Table. If you can, save all its contents to a new Pivot Table in the latest version of Excel so that this problem doesn’t arise anymore.

Method 2: Use Pivot Table Options

If, however, above method doesn’t work, follow the below-mentioned steps:

  • Right-click on the Pivot Table and click on Pivot Table Options
  • On the Display tab, clear the checkbox labeled “Show Properties in ToolTips
  • Save the file (.xls, .xlsx) with the new settings intact

Method 3: Make Changes to Pivot Table

If the above method or steps didn’t work,

  • Try opening the Pivot Table Options window by right-clicking on the Pivot Table within your Excel file
  • Select Pivot Table Options from the pop-up menu and make appropriate changes to the options given there
  • Then check if the issues go away

Method 4: Check and Set Data Source

If the problem in the Pivot table is related to data refresh,

  • Go to Analyze > Change Data Source
  • Check if the data source is set properly
  • Also, try reselecting the data source and check if the refresh option is working properly

If not, resorting to Stellar Repair for Excel software might be your only hope.

Excel Pivot Table Repair by Using Excel Repair Software

When corruption strikes an Excel Pivot Table and no manual trick work, Stellar Repair for Excel  is the best solution. This easy-to-use Excel Repair software repairs even the most severely corrupted Excel (XLS/XLSX) files to restore all data, properties, formatting, and preferences. It enables users to extract their saved data into new blank Excel files.

If you have this utility by your side, you don’t need to think twice about any Excel error.

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Conclusion

Excel Pivot Table corruption may occur due to any unexpected errors or reasons. This can lead to inaccurate observation in data analysis and also cause data loss if not fixed quickly. However, you can prevent data loss due to problems caused by Pivot Table corruption by keeping a backup of all your critical Excel files and fix the Pivot Table corruption by using proper tools, such as Excel file repair software, that can help you get over any Excel corruption and errors quickly.


  • Title: How to Repair Corrupt Excel Workbook? | Stellar
  • Author: Nova
  • Created at : 2024-03-13 21:41:19
  • Updated at : 2024-03-14 17:37:22
  • Link: https://blog-min.techidaily.com/how-to-repair-corrupt-excel-workbook-stellar-by-stellar-guide/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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How to Repair Corrupt Excel Workbook? | Stellar