Get rid of "The file is corrupt and cannot be opened" in Excel

Quick tip: learn how to access a corrupt xls. file in Excel

Usually when upgrading you expect nothing but improvements. So it can be really disappointing when after moving to Excel 2010 you have no chance to access your .xls file created in the application version 2003 and earlier. You understand what I'm talking about if you ever encountered "The file is corrupt and cannot be opened" error in Excel 2010 and later. Still think you can't open it? Actually you can!
Excel message: The file is corrupt and cannot be opened in Excel 2010

How to open a corrupt xls. file in Excel 2010 - 365

Try the following steps to see how your precious .xls data appear in Excel 2010 and later:

  1. Open Excel.
  2. Click on File -> Options.
  3. Select Trust Center and press the Trust center settings button.
    Excel: Trust center settings
  4. Pick Protected view.
    Trust center - Protected view
  5. Uncheck all the options under Protected View and confirm by pressing OK.
  6. Restart Excel and try to open the broken Excel documents.

Note. For safety reasons, you should save your document with new Office format like .xlsx. You can do it this way: File > Options -> Trust Center -> Trust Center settings -> Protected View.
Check all the options again under Protected View, click OK and restart Excel.

This will set the security options back. Sure, you don't want to open any file unsafely.

That's it. Hope it will work for you and your documents :).

Thanks and see you!

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385 comments

  1. thanks its working.

  2. I did what you said. It doesn't work for me. I can't open any of my excel and word files. I didn't have any problems before until just this week. Now I can't open any of my files. I get a corrupted message.

    • You might need to also update the "Trusted Locations" to include the file location.

      BTW, the warning still pops up for me, it is just that I can now elect to continue and the file opens.

  3. That's very important , thank you very much . this is successfully worked

  4. Thank you very much friend. It works well.
    Thumbs up to you! =D

  5. sir . file still not open , its more then 10 megabit . please help me it very important data

  6. superb, It is working now.

  7. For me, the issue was a photo image in the google spreadsheet. I tried a bunch of things that didn't work but by deleting the inserted image. The file would download as excel without the error message and can be emailed as attachment.

    Action item: If you have an image, delete it from the google doc and test it.

  8. pls
    I have an Excel 2007 file (.xlsx) that will not open. When I could not
    open it, I tried to just preview it. The error message says: "This file
    cannot be previewed because it is corrupted." I also tried to print
    directly from the file list, but I still get the "corrupted file" message.

  9. Did not work for me
    "The file is corrupt and cannot be opened" this message is only appears

  10. Yes It worked

    Thanks

  11. Thanks
    This worked for excel 2013 as well.

    I faced the issue with all excel 2013, word 2013and PowerPoint 2013 while opening file from outlook.

    But can you explain why this happened suddenly after two years of using MS office 2013?

    • Sorry, we can’t say why this happened.

  12. my all xlsx file automatically rename to .XLSX.unpanvf and could not open

    • Please note that Excel can’t automatically rename anything. The problem is likely in the way of opening files by some standalone program or add-in.

  13. Thanks for your solution this is working now..

  14. hey its working.

    thanks for the solution

  15. You just saved my bacon mate! I couldnt understand why all my excel files were corrupt. Fortunately I have them all backed up, but its a chore to recover them all.

    This solution worked a treat. Cheers

  16. thank you but Some of the files still do not open in excel 2013
    please guide me on this ASAP.

  17. Thank you it really worked for me on Excel 2013

  18. Dear Mr. Alexander, how about Ms Excel 2013,whether in the same way to work? thank you

    • Yes, the solution works for Excel 2013 as well. Microsoft made some improvements to version 2013 and such situations hardly occur.

  19. Thanks

  20. I love you with all my heart, please marry me
    Thaaaank yooou!

  21. excellent! thanks for this very helpful tip. no need to call helpdesk

  22. hi
    i see the location that you said, but in trust center i didnt see the protected view!!!

  23. You have no idea how many hours of work you just saved me. Thank you thank you thank you! So, is the unfortunate lesson learned that you cannot convert all previously created files to Excel 2010?

  24. I Love you.

  25. Rad this worked, thanks!

  26. my file as same problem if any problem with registry due to the virus?

    • Sorry, I am not sure I can follow you. Could you please explain the problem in more detail?

  27. Thanks Dear , Its working ...

  28. thanks a lot...its working again

  29. if i have a password on the sheet .. its working this steps
    when i log by administrator that excel sheet open with my pass
    if i log with anouther account i see this message
    The file is corrupt and cannot be opened

    • Hello Mahmoud,
      Thank you for the info! I will try to reproduce the issue and if succeed, I will add a notice to the article.

  30. thanx a lot

  31. Did not work for me. Those options were already unchecked. I frequently get that error when trying to open a 2nd excel file when I already have one open. It's driving me crazy. I have lost so much productivity since "upgrading" to Excel 10.

    • This is very strange. Do you get this message on the same files or randomly? On which drive are the files located - local or network drive?

  32. It works! Thank you so much! LIKE!!!!

  33. It works. Thanks alot Alex.

  34. Thanks allot for sharing this tip

  35. Many, many thanks.

  36. I have fixed that problem
    Thanks alot

  37. Please help me man i'm in deep shitt.
    If i didn't open the excel file i'm fired from my job,,,,, pleaseeeeeeee help meeeee. i can send u the file on ur email if u want, pleaseeeeeee

  38. Great!! it worked. Thank you.

  39. thanks , prob solved

  40. Hi

  41. Uninstall TuneUp Utilities and this message could go away.

  42. Thanks man, it's working now.

  43. Thanks mate!

  44. Hi all

    I have save all my excel files in usb. now my excel file can not open and it has a message as

    Excel cannot open the file 'A.xlsx' 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.

    can you please help me how to open this file
    Thanks

  45. guys coming in after august 2013... mostly you are affected by cryptolocker... and this solution is not for such files...

  46. it doesn't work for me. gee....

  47. I tried all the things but it didn't work.
    But after trying this i am able to open my attached excel sheet from Outlook 2010.

    Thank you very much!!!

  48. Saved my bacon, thought I'd lost a whole load of work but this technique enabled me to open the corrupt xlsx file. Thanks!

  49. really u r a genius

  50. Thank you so much!!!!!!!

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