Top 5 Ways to Fix Excel 2013 File Not Opening Error

Top 5 Ways to Fix Excel File Not Opening Error

Summary: MS Excel users sometimes face issues while using the MS Excel application. One such issue is the Excel file not opening error. In this post, we’ve mentioned the reasons that may result in this error and the ways to resolve it. Also, you’ll find about an Excel repair software that can help you repair corrupt Excel files.

Several Microsoft Excel users have reported encountering the ‘Excel file not opening’ error when opening their Excel file. There are several reasons that may cause this error. In this post, we’ll be discussing the reasons that may lead to the ‘Excel file not opening’ error and the top 5 ways to fix this error.

Why Does the ‘Excel File Not Opening’ Error Appear?

Following are some possible causes that may result in the ‘Excel file not opening’ error:

There may be a problem with an add-in that is preventing you from opening the Excel files.
There’s a chance that your Excel application is faulty.
Your Excel program is unable to communicate with other programs or the operating system.
The file association might have been broken. This is a common problem faced by users who have upgraded their Excel application or operating system.
The file you’re trying to open is corrupted.

5 Ways to Fix Excel File Not Opening Error

Let’s explore the ways to resolve the Excel file not opening error:

1. Uncheck the Ignore DDE Checkbox

Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)allows Excel to communicate with other programs. The Excel error may occur due to incorrect DDE settings. You need to ensure that the correct DDE configuration is enabled. Follow the steps provided below:

Launch your MS Excel file.
Go to File > Options.

Now click on Advanced.

Further, find the General option on the screen.

Uncheck the option **‘Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)**’.
Click OK to save the changes.

2. Reset Excel File Associations

When you launch your Excel file, the file association ensures that the Excel application is used to open the file. You can try to reset these associations and see if Excel opens after this. Proceed with the following steps to do so:

Navigate to Start Menu and launch Control Panel.
Now, navigate to Programs > Default Programs > Set Your Default Programs.

A new window will open. Herein, find the Excel program in the list and select it. Now, select the option ‘Choose defaults for this program’. Click OK.

A new window for ‘Set Program Associations’ will open.
Check the box against the ‘Select All’ option.
Further, click Save to reset the Excel File Associations settings.

3. Disable Add-Ins

Many people install third-party add-ins to enhance the application’s functionality. Sometimes, these add-ins can create an issue. Follow the below-mentioned steps to disable the problem creating add-ins:

Launch MS Excel application.
Navigate to File > Options > Add-ins.

In the window that opens, go to the Manage option at the bottom.
Herein, select the COM Add-ins option from the dropdown list. Click Go.

In the COM Add-ins window, uncheck all the boxes to disable the add-ins. Click OK.

4. Repair MS Office Program

Sometimes the issue is not with your Excel file. Instead, the reason for the error can be a corrupt MS Office application. You can repair the program to fix the Excel file not opening error. Here are the steps:

Press the Windows + R keys to launch the ‘Run’ dialog box.

Enter the text ‘appwiz.cpl’ to launch the program and features window.

Find the MS Office program in the list of applications.

Right-click on it and select Change.

In the new window, select the Quick Repair radio button. Click Repair.

Follow the on-screen instructions to repair the Office application. Once the repair process is completed, you can try opening the Excel file to see if the problem is resolved.

5. Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

The hardware graphics acceleration assists in the system’s better performance, especially when you use MS Office applications, like MS Excel or Word. Sometimes, this causes the Excel file not opening issue. You can disable this option to try to resolve the issue. Here are the steps:

Launch your MS Excel application.
Navigate to File > Options > Advanced.
Herein, go to the Display option.
Uncheck the Disable hardware graphics acceleration checkbox. Click OK.

What If These Solutions Do Not Work?

If you have applied all the methods mentioned above and still cannot open your Excel file, there are chances that your file is corrupted. You can use a specialized Excel repair tool , such as Stellar Repair for Excel to repair the corrupted Excel file. This software has powerful algorithms that can scan and repair even severely corrupt Excel files, without any file size limitation. After repairing the file, it restores all the data, including tables, charts, rules, etc. to a new Excel, with 100% integrity.

To know how the software works, see the video below:

Conclusion

Before you proceed with resolving the Excel file not opening error, try to find out the root cause of this error. If you know the real reason, you can try the method right away. If the reason for the error is corruption in the Excel file, the best option is to repair the file using a professional Excel repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Excel .

How Can I Recover Corrupted Excel File 2016?

Error Messages Indicating Corruption in Excel File

When an Excel 2016 file turns corrupt, you’ll receive an error message that reads: “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened .”

But sometimes, you encounter the “Excel cannot open this file” error message due to corruption in the file.

Why does Excel File turn Corrupt?

Following are some common reasons that can turn an Excel file corrupt:

Large size of the Excel file
The file is virus infected
Hard drive on which Excel file is stored has developed bad sectors
Abrupt system shutdown while working on a worksheet

Workarounds to Recover Data from Corrupt Excel

The workarounds to recover corrupted Excel file 2016 data will vary depending on whether you can open the file or not.

How to Recover Corrupted Excel File 2016 Data When You Can Open the File?

If the corrupt Excel file is open, try any of the following workarounds to retrieve the data:

Workaround 1 – Use the Recover Unsaved Workbooks Option

If your Excel file gets corrupt while you are working on it and you haven’t saved the changes, you can try retrieving the file’s data by following these steps:

Open your Excel 2016 application and click on the Open Other Workbooks option.

Click the Recover Unsaved Workbooks button at the bottom of the ‘Recent Workbooks’ section.

A window with list of unsaved Excel files will open. Click the corrupt file you want to open.

This will reopen your last saved version of the Excel workbook. If this method doesn’t work, proceed with the next workaround.

Workaround 2 – Revert to Last Saved Version of your Excel File

If your Excel file gets corrupt in the middle of making any changes, you can recover the file’s data if the changes haven’t been saved. For this, you need to revert to the last saved version of your Excel file. Doing so will discard any changes that may have caused the file to turn corrupt. Here’s how to do it:

In your Excel 2016 file, click File from the main menu.
Click Open. From the list of workbooks under Recent workbooks, double-click the corrupt workbook that is already open in Excel.
Click Yes when prompted to reopen the workbook.

Excel will revert the corrupt file to its last saved version. If it fails, skip to the next workaround.

Workaround 3 – Save the Corrupted Excel File in Symbolic Link (SYLK) Format

Saving an Excel file in SYLK format might help you filter out corrupted elements from the file. Here are the steps to do so:

From your Excel File menu, choose Save As.
In ‘Save As’ window that pops-up, from the Save as type dropdown list, choose the SYLK (Symbolic Link) option, and then click Save.

Note: Only the active sheet will be saved in workbook on choosing the SYLK format.

Click OK when prompted that “The selected file type does not support workbooks that contain multiple sheets”. This will only save the active sheet.

Click Yes when the warning message appears - “Some features in your workbook might be lost if you save it as SYLK (Symbolic Link)”.

Click File > Open.
Browse the corrupt workbook saved with SYLK format (.slk) and open it.
After opening the file, select File > Save As.
In ‘Save as type’ dialog box, select Excel workbook.
Rename the workbook and hit the Save button.

After performing these steps, a copy of your original workbook will be saved at the specified location.

How to Recover Corrupted Excel File 2016 Data When You Cannot Open the File?

If you can’t access the Excel file, apply one of these workarounds to salvage the file’s data.

Workaround 1 – Open and Repair the Excel File

Excel automatically initiates ‘File Recovery’ mode on opening a corrupt file. After starting the auto-recovery mode, it attempts to reopen and repair the corrupt Excel file at the same time. If the auto-recovery mode does not start automatically, you can try to fix corrupted Excel file 2016 manually by using ‘Open and Repair’. Follow these steps:

Open a blank file, click the File tab and select Open.
Browse the location where the corrupt 2016 Excel file is stored.
When an ‘Open’ dialog box appears, select the file you want to repair.
Once the file is selected, click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click the Open and Repair button.
Do any of these actions:
Click Repair to fix corrupted file and recover data from it.
Click Extract Data if you cannot repair the file or only need to extract values and formulas.

If performing these actions doesn’t help you retrieve the data, proceed with the next workaround.

Workaround 2 – Disable the Protected View Settings

Follow these steps to disable the protected view settings in an Excel file:

Open a blank 2016 workbook.

Click the File tab and then select Options.

When an Excel Options window opens, click Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.

In the window that pops-up, choose Protected View from the left side navigation. Under ‘Protected View’, uncheck all the checkboxes, and then hit OK.

Now, try opening your corrupt Excel 2016 file. If it won’t open, try the next workaround.

Workaround 3 – Link to the Corrupt Excel File using External References

If you only need to extract Excel file data without formulas or calculated values, use external references to link to your corrupt Excel 2016 file. Here’s how you can do it:

From your Excel file, click File > Open.
From the window that opens, click Computer and then click Browse and copy the name of your corrupt Excel 2016 file. Click the Cancel button.

Go back to your Excel file, click File > New > Blank workbook.

In the new Excel workbook, type “=CorruptExcelFile Name!A1” in cell A1 to reference cell A1 of the corrupted file. Replace the ‘CorruptExcelFile Name’ with the name of the corrupt file that you have copied above. Hit ENTER.
If ‘Update Values’ dialog box appears, select the corrupt 2016 Excel file, and then click OK.
If ‘Select Sheet’ dialog box pops-up, select a corrupt sheet, and press the OK button.
Select and drag cell A1 till the columns required to store the data of your corrupted Excel file.
Next, copy row A and drag it down to the rows needed to save the file’s data.
Select and copy the file’s data.
From the Edit menu, choose the Paste Special option and then select Values. Click OK to paste values and remove the reference links to the corrupt file.

Check the new Excel file for recoverable data. If this didn’t work, consider using an Excel file repair tool to retrieve data.

Alternative Solution to Recover Excel File Data

Applying the above workarounds may take considerable time to recover corrupted Excel file 2016. Also, they may fail to extract data from a severely corrupted file. Using Stellar Repair for Excel software can help you overcome these limitations. The software helps repair severely corrupted XLS/XLSX file and retrieve all the file data in a few simple steps.

Key benefits of using Stellar Repair for Excel are as follows:

Recovers tables, pivot tables, images, charts, chartsheets, hidden sheets, etc.
Maintains original spreadsheet properties and cell formatting
Batch repair multiple Excel XLS/XLSX files in a single go
Supports MS Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, and previous versions

Check out this video to know how the Excel file repair tool from Stellar® works:

Conclusion

Errors such as ‘the file is corrupt and cannot be opened’, ‘Excel cannot open this file’, etc. indicate corruption in an Excel file. Large-sized workbook, virus infection, bad sectors on hard disk drive, etc. are some reasons that may result in Excel file corruption. The workarounds discussed in this article can help you recover corrupted Excel file 2016 data. However, manual methods can be time-consuming and might fail to extract data from severely corrupted workbook. A better alternative is to use Stellar Repair for Excel software that is purpose-built to repair and recover data from damaged or corrupted Excel file.

How to fix “damage to the file was so extensive that repairs were not possible” Excel error?

Summary: Unable to resolve “damage to the file was so extensive that repair was not possible” error in Excel? Read this post to discover more details about the error, possible causes, and how to rectify the error. To save time & efforts, you can also try an Excel file repair software to resolve the “damage to the file…” error in a few clicks.

When opening a workbook in Microsoft Excel 2003 or later, you may encounter an error message,

“Damage to the file was so extensive that repairs were not possible. Excel attempted to recover your formulas and values, but some data may have been lost or corrupted.”

The error message may also occur while exporting an Excel file. Let’s find out what causes this error and what we can do to fix it.

Reasons Behind “Damage to the File Was So Extensive That Repairs Were Not Possible” Error

Your Excel file may be corrupt, oversized, virus-afflicted, etc., which can trigger this error and make the repair impossible. Below are some common reasons.

Large or oversized excel files hindering export
Data restore errors
Field length of a cell is more than 256 characters
Software conflicts, viruses, network failure
Unable to open files in upgraded versions
Errors on output exceeding 64000 rows
Limited system resources (such as RAM, internal memory)

In a nutshell, the error generally happens if Excel discovers unreadable content, which may also interrupt file saving in Excel.

How to Resolve “Damage to the File Was So Extensive That Repairs Were Not Possible” Error?

Here are a few methods you can follow to fix or resolve the Excel repair error.

Method 1: Perform Basic Troubleshooting

When opening a corrupt workbook, Microsoft Excel automatically initiates the file recovery mode to repair the corrupt file. However, if it fails to perform automatic recovery, then follow these basic troubleshooting steps:

This error mainly happens when you try to open the Excel file in an upgraded version. Try to open the file in an older version of Excel. You might be able to open it.
Try saving the file with a different file name.
Use a different file extension to save the file.
You can save the Excel file as HTML and then open it. However, an HTML file might not save conditional formatting.
Close other opened applications on the system which may be causing the error.
Select less data for export at once.
Delete worksheets if copied from another document; for instance, delete any file or screenshots you have imported.
Open the file on another system.

If the error persists, then use the manual method to repair a workbook using the below steps:

Go to the “File” tab.

Select Open and select the damaged spreadsheet from the Recent Workbooks section on the right, if listed. However, if you cannot find the file in the Recent Workbooks section, click on “Browse” and choose the corrupted workbook.

Click the drop-down arrow on the Open tab and select Open and Repair.

Method 2: Check if exporting a Heavy File is Causing Resource Limitations in Excel

Sometimes, when you try to export an Excel sheet carrying a huge database, you may face memory errors in older Excel versions like Excel 2003. Here, you’ll have to decrease the amount of data as Excel 2003 does not permit exporting extensive data beyond a limit. However, modern versions such as Excel 2007, 2010 & 2016 allow exporting a large amount of data and utilize more RAM than the older versions.

Following are some other workarounds:

Use a lesser number of query presentation fields to re-generate the query. Then, again re-enter those fields.
Decrease the multi-line string field data text up to 8000 characters.

Method 3: Copy Macros and Data to Another Workbook (Empty) in an Advanced Excel version

If the issue is occurring due to version incompatibility, i.e., if the file opens easily in the older version but shows errors in the new version. You can:

Use the older version to open the file or copy the data or macros in an empty workbook of the new version of Excel.

Copying the Macros in the Workstation

In Microsoft Excel, you can use the Visual Basic Editor to open the workbook with macro on another workbook by copying the macro. Both VBA tools and Macros appear in the Developer section of the excel file. This option is disabled by default. So first, you need to enable it.

Follow the instructions to enable it:

Open Excel and go to File > Options.

Click “**Customize Ribbon.**”

Look at the right side of the pane and ensure the Developer tab is checked.

Click OK.

Once you have enabled the Developer tab, follow the steps to copy the macro from one workbook to another:

First, open both the workbooks- the workbook containing the macro and the workbook in which you need to copy the macros.
Locate the Developer tab.

Select Visual Basic to display the “Visual Basic Editor.”

Go to the View menu in the Visual Basic Editor.

Select Project Explorer.

In the Project Explorer window, drag the module you need to copy to the destination workbook. For example:

Module 1 has been copied from Book2.xlsm to Book1.xlsm

Method 4- Restore the backup file

The workbook backup helps to open the corrupted or mistakenly deleted file. Sometimes, the issue can be fixed using the Recover Unsaved Workbook option in Excel. Here’s the list of steps to recover the files in Microsoft Excel:

Go to the File tab on Excel.

Click Open.

Search on the top-left of the screen to click Recent Workbooks as below:

Next, scroll down to the bottom.
Click the “Recover unsaved workbooks” button.

Scroll and find the lost file.
Now double-click on the file to open.

Conclusion

“Damage to the file was so extensive that repairs were not possible” error can be fixed with the above troubleshooting methods or by using a third-party Excel repair tool, like Stellar Repair for Excel . Although There are no standard resolutions to fix the excel error as they may vary with different scenarios. In some cases, the manual methods might be time-consuming or fail to fix the error or recover the excel file. Hence, using an excel file repair tool may be the best option! It extracts data from the corrupted file and saves it to a new Excel workbook, which you can open and edit.

Top 5 Ways to Fix Excel File Not Opening Error

Why Does the ‘Excel File Not Opening’ Error Appear?

Following are some possible causes that may result in the ‘Excel file not opening’ error:

There may be a problem with an add-in that is preventing you from opening the Excel files.
There’s a chance that your Excel application is faulty.
Your Excel program is unable to communicate with other programs or the operating system.
The file association might have been broken. This is a common problem faced by users who have upgraded their Excel application or operating system.
The file you’re trying to open is corrupted.