How to repair an Excel file that won't open

Step by step

1. Copy the file and check its size

   Copy the workbook to another folder. Look at the size: 0 KB means there is no content to repair, and you should look for AutoRecover copies or earlier versions instead.

2. Rule out simple causes

   Right-click the file, choose Properties and click Unblock if it came from email or the internet. Check that the extension matches the format, because an old .xls renamed to .xlsx triggers the same error.

3. Use Open and Repair

   In Excel, choose File › Open › Browse, select the copy, click the arrow next to Open and choose Open and Repair. Click Repair first. If that fails, run it again and choose Extract Data to keep values and, optionally, formulas.

4. Rebuild the package with FileFix Ultimate

   In Damaged file repair, choose the workbook. The app checks the ZIP structure, the central directory, [Content_Types].xml and the relationship parts, then writes a rebuilt copy as a new file.

5. Salvage values if it still will not open

   When the workbook cannot be made openable, choose salvage. FileFix Ultimate reads each worksheet it can find and writes the cell values to a new values-only .xlsx plus one CSV file per sheet.

6. Check the result carefully

   Open the new file and compare totals, row counts and dates with what you expect. Repaired and salvaged workbooks can still miss rows from damaged areas.

Why XLSX workbooks break and why many can be saved

An .xlsx file is a ZIP package of XML parts: one per worksheet, plus shared strings, styles and the relationships that tie them together. If saving was interrupted, the central directory at the end of the ZIP may be missing, and Excel then refuses the whole file even though every sheet is intact. Rebuilding the directory from the entries in the file recovers those parts.

Packages can also lose [Content_Types].xml or a relationship file. Excel needs them to know which part is which, so the file looks invalid. These small parts can be recreated from what is in the package.

What salvage mode keeps and what it loses

Salvage is the last step when the structure is too damaged to rebuild. It keeps cell values: numbers, text and dates, sheet by sheet. Formulas, formatting, merged cells, charts, images, pivot tables and macros may be lost, and values in a damaged sheet part may be missing or incomplete.

For legacy .xls files from Excel 97–2003, FileFix Ultimate can also salvage cell values into a new workbook. Open and Repair in Excel is worth trying first for those, because it understands the old format natively.

Check for an older copy first

On OneDrive or SharePoint, File › Info › Version History often has a complete earlier version, which is better than any repair. Also check Recover Unsaved Workbooks and Windows Previous Versions on the folder.

When it won't work

• Password-protected workbooks are encrypted and cannot be repaired without the password.
• A 0 KB file, or one filled with zeros, has no workbook data left.
• Sheets whose XML parts were overwritten cannot be rebuilt; salvage then recovers only the readable rows.

How FileFix Ultimate helps

• Rebuilds XLSX, DOCX and PPTX packages with a missing central directory, [Content_Types].xml or relationships.
• Salvages cell values per sheet to a new values-only .xlsx plus CSV when the workbook cannot be made openable.
• Salvages values from legacy .xls and text from .doc files.
• Never changes the original; every result is a new file with a plain report of what was kept and what was lost.

Frequently asked questions