The File is Corrupted and Cannot be Opened Excel 2016, 2013, 2010

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On May 1st, 2018

Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading

Category Tips

When users try to access MS Excel or Word document they may also receive the corruption error. Due to crash or severe damage, end users are unable to read that document. It becomes a challenging task for all users, therefore, not an easy part to execute. Therefore, it will not become really tough from now onwards as in the upcoming section of this blog; we will cover top five ways to fix “the file is corrupted and cannot be opened Excel 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 in an absolute manner.

Possible Reasons Behind Excel File Corruption

If users are facing any corruption issue in MS Excel 2013 and other editions, then there should be the cause behind it. Let us first understand few reasons behind corrupted or damaged XLS file:

Sudden Power Failure: In any case, the system gets shut down unexpectedly and data files which are in running state get closed forcefully. This can cause the loss of data or file corruption.
Incorrect Excel Files: Human-generated errors that can damage the Excel files. For e.g., a user has deleted the wrong file automatically that contains most important data in it.
Hardware Failure: There is one other reason to get results in the inaccessible Excel File is Hardware crash.
Large XLS File Size: The MS Excel spreadsheet is a workbook, not the database. So, it can close on its own if it is not capable to handle a large amount of data. Thus, if MS Excel file size increases unexpectedly, then there are high chances of corruption.
Virus & Malware Attack: As everyone knows, local machines are prone to virus infection. If the system gets infected by any type of virus, then these files cannot be accessed and hence they become inaccessible.

The File is Corrupted and Cannot be Opened Excel 2016: Manual Fix

There are so many ways that will help to repair and recover damaged .xls files in MS Excel 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 versions. Follow any one of the manual solutions listed below. Also, explore the professional solution to fix MS Excel File errors without data loss in quick steps.

Open & Repair Method

First of all, open the blank MS Excel workbook
After this, click on Open option
Search for the specific file, choose Open and Repair option. This option will available in the drop-down list associated with the Open button. Meanwhile, MS Excel cannot open the file and then, select Extract Data option
If the Excel file may cause a serious error the last time it was accessed, you should agree to continue opening it.

HTML Method to Resolve Corrupt Excel Data Files

Now, you should open the Excel file
Go to the Save As option. If required, choose the other file formats from a list of options
Then, select a Web Page from possible file types or formats
Make sure that complete Workbooks will be selected and click on Save option

Note: The formatting of same elements may get lost. Press Yes button to confirm or Help for more information while resolving ‘ the file is corrupted and cannot be opened Excel 2013’

Navigate the saved document file
Right-click on File, choose Open With option and then, select Microsoft Office Excel
Select the option Save As and choosing the MS Excel format from a drop-down list. For an instance, MS Excel 97-2003 offers the classic .xls file format, whereas Excel Workbook offers the .xlsx file format
Finally, hit on Save button

Copy Data Method

Firstly, Open the Excel file
Now, right-click on the worksheet and choose to Select All Sheets option
Again, right-click on the sheet tab and Select the option Move or Copy
Now, choose a New Book and then, enable the checkbox Create a Copy
Eventually, press OK button

Change the Protected View Settings

Click on the File menu and then, choose Options
Now, select the last tab Trusted Centre under Options
After that hit on Trusted Center Settings
From the new Window screen, choose the Protected View
In the last step, uncheck all the options and press OK button

After performing above steps, close this application and open it again. Although this will help to fix the issue ‘the file is corrupted and cannot be opened Excel 2016’. If it does not work then, move to next approach.

Modify Component Services Settings

In the Start menu, go to the Search tab and type ‘dcomcnfg’
A new Component Services window will open with three pane view
In the left-side pane, you can expand the Computers folder
Right-click on My Computer and choose the option Properties
Select Default Properties tab from the new Window
Check the ‘Enable Distribution COM on this computer’ option, set the value on ‘Default Authentication Level’ as Connect and Default Impersonation Level as Identify
Click OK button and then, restart the Microsoft Excel

If Excel file error still is not resolved by any of these approaches or it may become quite confusing then, users have to take help of a reliable third-party tool.

Let’s Wrap Up

In the above discussion, we have covered all manual tricks that will help to fix “the file is corrupted and cannot be opened Excel 2016” error. Along with this, we have described all possible reasons behind the occurrence of this MS Excel error message. Else, users can opt for a reliable third-party tool to resolve issues in Excel 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 version effortlessly.