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. Thank you so much! That worked. That had been a major hassle for a long time.

  2. Thank you for solution it work perfectly!

  3. Had the same error and solution was similar but not the same.
    At step 4 I instead had to go to Trusted Locations and check "Allow trusted locations on my network." I then had to click "Add new location" and add the location of the supposedly corrupt file to the trusted locations list.

    Posting my solution here in case it helps anyone else.

  4. This is temporary solution for some excels, but even in many excel this trick is not working getting same error

  5. Mate you saved me hours of work, I thanks you soooooo much...

  6. Thanks so much!

  7. That works perfectly!

  8. Thank U so much
    That was so helpful

  9. I love you
    u r d bst

  10. Thanks a lot for the solution.

  11. It was awesome. Thanks

  12. excellent solution !!! thanks !!!

  13. It works. Thanks for the help
    /W

  14. thank you

  15. This method works but it can be dangerous for document. if you another way to solve this issue then please suggest me. I searched on internet but not got good idea.

    Thanks!

  16. Thank you!

  17. Thank U so much
    That was so helpful

  18. excle file corrupted

  19. Thank you.its good

  20. Thanks Team, really helped!!

  21. Fantastic! it works. U save my day. Thank you.

  22. Awesome. Thank you.

  23. Hello Team,

    I'm facing the same issue after upgrading my office 2010 to 2016. .xls file is not opening and getting same error "the file is corrupted and cannot be opened" even .xlsx file working fine.

    this suggested is very helpful to me. thanks team !

  24. I have a similar problem, but nothing to do with an upgrade.

    I have a macro enabled file open in XL2003, which originated as an xlxs file from XL2010. Conversion to an xls file was straightforward. I then in 2003 added the macros. It is now saved as an xlsm file, and when XL2003 saves it is reports that the file is being converted.

    Until the latest changes to the macros, the file could be saved, closed and re-opened. Now the macros do all they should do, the file can be saved, but if I close it it cannot be opened. XL reports that the file is corrupt.

    I can go, and have gone, back to an older version (v3) to make the changes again. Which I have saved now as v5. v4 cannot be opened by XL2003 on the original machine (the machine that saved the file). v4 and v5 cannot be opened on a different machine by XL2010.

    I am reluctant to close v5 on the original machine until I know that I can open the saved version elsewhere.

    Does anyone have any clue as to what may have happened? I am at a loss. I understand file corruption, and that a corruption may occur during the save operation, but do not expect it to hit what is really the same file (the v3 file saved as v4 and v5) in the same way on two different occasions, so I have discounted any file system or OS corruption.

    It may be something introduced by the converter that XL2003 is using when saving the file, but I do not understand why the converter would add to the file something that XL2003 does not understand. But even if it did, I would then still expect a later version of XL (XL2010) to be able to read and open the file.

    Thank you

    Coco

  25. clear, thanks

  26. Hey
    I am using Php to export the data from the database to excel sheet.
    I am saving the file using .xls extension
    $filename = "VMS_Report_" . date('Y-m-d') . ".xls";
    After exporting the data when I try to open the file it shows the file is corrupted and unsafe
    I am using Office365
    I tried all the possibilities that are available sources on internet

  27. Worked as a charm! Thanks!

  28. Thanks it worked.

  29. excel canot open the file beccause the file format or file extension is not vaild. verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file -how to recover the file

  30. awesome. works. thanks

  31. its really working..lots of tnx

  32. So thnks

  33. thank you so much you save my life !!!!!!!!!!!!

  34. Fantastic, thanks a lot for sharing this

  35. Odd. Two machines in our office, and only one had this problem. The Trust Center settings were identical for both in both Word 2010 and Excel 2010. But one of them would not open downloaded files at all, always saying they were corrupt. Your solution did work, but it doesn't make sense that it's a problem on one machine and not the other.

    Anyway. Thanks!

  36. Still happening

  37. Hi good afternoon, can someone help me to restore my excel file. It became 0 byte and cannot be opened, Thank you in advance.

  38. Thank you very much, Machan it's working fine....
    Best wishes from Sweden.
    You save our time !!! Simon.

  39. Thanks Machan it's working fine....
    From Sri Lanka.
    You save our time !!! Ella Kollak.

  40. thanks a lot it is working !

  41. Thanks in tons

  42. Thanks to Mr.Rajesh Peshiya who helped to recover all data from that file. Thank you so much i got back files which corrupted.

  43. Someone pls reply if u know the route cause i lost my most imp excel and i dont have any copy of it.

  44. not working please give alternate option for 2007 version as we have option of macro setting not protected view

  45. not working ,give option for 2007 version where there is option of macro settig

  46. still cant :(

  47. Working now...Thanks

  48. Perfetc :D

  49. thanks a ton buddy

  50. Thank you so much

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