Best 3 Methods to Repair Corrupt Excel File on Windows 10

Excel files can get corrupted due to a variety of reasons, such as abnormal system shutdown, sudden application termination, hardware or software issues, virus infection, hard drive errors, problematic MS Office updates, etc. When you try to open the corrupted Excel file, you may encounter various errors or issues. Sometimes, you even fail to access the Excel file data.

When the Excel application detects corruption in the file, it automatically initiates the file recovery mode and tries to repair the corrupt file. Nevertheless, if it fails to start the recovery mode, you can repair the file manually or use specialized Excel recovery software. In this post, we will mention the three best and most efficient methods to repair a corrupt Excel file on a Windows system.

3 Best Methods to Repair Corrupt Excel Files

Here we’ve shared three effective methods to repair damaged or corrupted Excel files.

Method 1: Set the Calculation Option in Excel to Manual

Excel has a default settings to refresh the Excel file. It recalculates each formula in the file, even if you make a small change. Sometimes, you may fail to open a large Excel file with lengthy and complex formulas. You can change the calculation settings in Excel from automatic to manual to prevent the application to automatically recalculating the formulas. This can help in opening the affected Excel file. Follow the below steps to set the calculation option to manual:

Now, go to the File menu, select the affected workbook, and then click Open to check if the file is opening.

Method 2: Run the Open and Repair Utility

Microsoft Excel provides an Open and Repair utility to repair corrupt Excel files. To use the Open and Repair utility, follow the steps below:

Method 3: Use a Professional Excel Repair Tool

In case the Open and Repair utility fails to provide the desired outcomes, you can use a reliable Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. It is a professional tool for repairing severely corrupted Excel (.XLS/.XLSM/.XLSX) files. Repairing corrupt Excel files using Stellar Repair for Excel is easy and quick as it provides a very intuitive interface. The tool is compatible with Windows 11, 10, and earlier versions.

Steps to repair damaged Excel file using Stellar Repair for Excel:

 Some Additional Solutions

You can try to restore the previously saved version of the corrupted Excel file or disable the Protected View. Let’s see how.

1: Restore the Previously Saved Version of Excel File

Microsoft Excel has an Auto-Recover option that saves a version of the file automatically. If this feature is enabled, you can restore the last saved version of the affected Excel file. Here’s how to restore the previously saved version of the Excel file:

2: Check and Turn Off Protected View Settings

If the Protected View is enabled, Microsoft Excel prevents opening the file received from suspicious sources. If you’ve received the file from any other source, you can turn off this setting to see if it helps. Follow these steps:

Caution: Before unselecting the protected view settings, make sure your system has antivirus software to protect files against virus attacks.

Closure

Excel files can get corrupted due to numerous reasons. In this post, we have shared 3 best methods to repair the corrupt Excel file. The Microsoft built-in utility can help fix minor corruption issues. If it fails to work, then you can use a reliable third-party Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair the corrupt Excel file without any size limitation. You can even repair multiple Excel files. The tool can recover all the data from the damaged Excel file with complete integrity.

Please explore our site for more exciting content if you liked dis article.

Exit mobile version