6 Ways to Fix Corrupt Excel XLS/XLSX Documents

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XLSX is a file format of MS Excel. It is used for maintaining the numerical and graphical data. Many people do calculations on MS Excel by using the various formulas. But the problem arises when the excel files get corrupted and cannot be opened. I suppose it is the worst nightmare for the user when some crucial data is at risk. So do you want to know how to fix corrupted XLSX file? Here are some manual tricks through which you can recover data from excel files.

Well, I think you are clear about the tricks which I have mentioned above. But don’t worry, I am going to tell you each and every trick in detail. You can try any method from the six and can easily repair corrupt XLSX file.

Table of Contents

Troubleshoot Component Services Settings

Open Run and type dcomcnfg

Component Services window will appear in front of you. Under Console Root Click on Component Services and then Click on Computers.

Right Click on My Computer and open Properties. Go to Default Properties

Now Check the Checkbox Enable Distributed COM on this computer. Select Connect under the Default Authentication level. Under Default Impersonation Level choose Identify. Then Click on OK.

Once you click on OK the troubleshooting process starts and this fixes the Excel file. If it is not enough then you can go for the next method.

Open and Repair Excel Files

Open File tab and Click on Open.
Find your Corrupt file and Select
Click on the Down Arrow beside Open

Now Click on Open and Repair Option from the dropdown list.
Click on Repair to fix corrupted XLSX file.

Single Click on Extract if you want to extract data from Excel files.

By using these methods you can fix the damaged XLSX format files.

Change Calculation option to Manual

Note*- Sometimes it happens that the XLSX file doesn’t open if it has to recalculate.

Open File Tab and Click on Options.
Now Click on Formula.
Select Manual option and Click on OK.

Recover only Data from Corrupt Spreadsheet

Click on Open under the File
Select the XLSX file which you want to repair.
Right Click on that XLSX file and click on Copy.
Now Click on Cancel and open a New Excel Sheet.
In the first cell type !A1 and press Enter.

In the Update Value Dialogue Box Select corrupt excel file and click on OK.
In the Select Sheet Dialogue Box choose the relevant sheet and click on OK.

Note*(If this dialogue box appears you have to do so otherwise jump to 8^th step)

Select A1 Cell and Click on Home and Copy.
Select the Exact Number of as it was in the original workbook starting from A1.
Click again on the Home and Paste
Click on Home and Copy on the selected cells.
Under the Home Tab Click on Paste and Choose Values.

After pasting the data you can view the data of corrupted XLSX file in the new excel sheet.

Save File as SYLK and Rename it to XLS.

Open File Tab and Click on Save As.
In Save as Type box choose Symbolic Link
Enter the File name.
Click on Save

Once the file is saved then rename it XLS and I hope you will be able to open corrupted excel file. If you are still unable to fix corrupted XLSX file then just forget the manual methods and go for a third party tool which can repair excel files.

Try XLSX Recovery Tool

If you don’t want to waste your time on trying these methods then this is a shortcut method to repair damaged XLSX files. The XLSX Recovery Tool by Data Recovery Solution is designed to repair excel files and extract data from them. It is an effective tool which can reduce a lot of efforts of the user. But there are some pros and cons of the tool.

Pros

Fix Corrupted XLSX files.
Repairs Bulk Excel Files in one go.
Compatible with all the versions of MS Office.
No File Size Limitation.
Runs on every version of windows.

Cons

Doesn’t Supports Mac Operating System.
Incompatible with Linux

Also Read- Microsoft Excel is Not Responding

Conclusion

Now it is the time to wrap up the things because I think the methods are sufficient to fix corrupted excel files. You can first try the manual methods. If the corruption is severe then I would recommend that you should go for the professional recovery tool. Your decision depends on the severity of corruption in the file. If there is some minor corruption then I suppose the manual methods can fix it. If it is severe then you should go for the XLSX recovery tool.