How to Restore a Corrupted Excel File?
Corruption in Excel file may occur if you accidentally close the file or the computer shuts down suddenly while you are working on the file. Besides, an Excel file may get corrupted due to bad sectors on hard drive, malware/virus attack, conflicting applications, unreliable plugin, and various other reasons.
When you open the corrupt file, Excel automatically starts the file recovery mode and tries to repair it. However, if the recovery mode doesn’t start, then follow the manual methods discussed in this article to restore the data from the corrupt Excel file. Also, we added professional MS excel repair software that can fix almost all errors and corruption in a few clicks without interruption.
Methods to Restore Corrupted Excel File.
Following the methods mentioned below to restore the corrupt Excel file.
1. Revert to the Previously Saved Version
Excel has an auto-recover feature which saves a version of file automatically. Make sure you have enabled this feature beforehand. If the Excel sheet is closed while you are working on it and gets corrupted, then you can revert to the last saved version of the file. Follow the steps below to restore the Excel file using the Recover Unsaved Workbooks option.
- Open the corrupt Excel file (if it is opening).
- Go to File > Info > Manage Document.
- Click Recover Unsaved Workbooks in Excel.
- Select the available last auto-saved file version and then click Open.
- Check the data. It’s possible that some recent changes or items are not in the auto-saved Excel workbook.
- Go to the top of the file and click File > Save As to save the file.
2. Use Document Recovery Pane in Excel.
If your Excel application closes unexpectedly before saving the changes, you can use the Document Recovery pane to restore the file. The option appears when you open the same Excel file the next time.
The steps are as follows:
- Open the Microsoft Excel.
- Click Show Recovered Files.
- The Document Recovery Pane appears, showing the recovered files.
- Choose the desired file and open it.
3. Set the Calculation Option in Excel to Manual.
Sometimes, switching the calculation settings from automatic to manual helps in opening the Excel file. The steps are as follows:
- Go to File > New.
- Click Blank workbook under the Available Templates tab.
- Click Options.
- Go to the Formulas category and click the Manual option under Calculation options.
- Click OK.
- Click Open on the File tab.
- Choose the corrupted workbook and then click Open.
4. Use the Open & Repair Utility.
You can use the built-in Open and Repair utility in Excel to repair and restore the corrupt Excel file. Follow these steps:
- Go to File > Open.
- In the Open dialog box, choose the corrupted Excel file.
- Click the arrow next to the Open option and choose Open and Repair from the dropdown.
- · Click Repair to recover as much data from the workbook as possible.
5. Use a professional MS Excel Repair Tool
If the Open and Repair utility does not work, you can use an Excel repair software, such as Stellar Repair for Excel. It is a powerful DIY software that can repair Excel file and recover all its data with 100% integrity. This tool provides a preview option to view all the recoverable objects before saving the file.
Follow these steps to use Stellar Repair for Excel to restore a corrupted Excel file:
- Download, install, and run Stellar Repair for Excel.
- Click Browse to select the corrupt file.
- Click Repair to start the repairing process.
- After the repair process is complete, all recoverable objects will be displayed in a tree-like structure. You can click on any item to see its preview.
- After preview, click Save File on the Home ribbon.
- Select the destination to save the file.
- The file will be saved at the desired location.
Conclusion
This article discusses the methods to restore corrupted Excel file. If the file is opening, you can revert to the previously saved version of the file or restore it from the recent backup. If the file is not opening, you can use the built-in Open and Repair utility to repair the corrupt Excel file. However, if these methods do not work, you can use an advanced Excel file recovery tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair the file. This software can repair severely corrupted Excel file and restore all the data with complete integrity.
