How to Recover a Corrupted Excel File

To recover a corrupted Excel file, open Excel and go to File > Open, select the damaged workbook, click the arrow next to Open, and choose Open and Repair. Try Repair first. If that fails, run it again and choose Extract Data to save the values and formulas. If neither works, restore an earlier copy from Version History, AutoRecover, or a backup.

These steps are for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016 on Windows. Excel for Mac menus are different.

Before you start: make a copy

Copy the damaged file in File Explorer and work on the copy. If a repair attempt goes badly, you still have the original to try another method on. It also helps to move the copy to your desktop or another local folder, rather than a network drive or USB stick.

Repair the workbook with Open and Repair

1. Open Excel with a blank workbook or the start screen.
2. Select File > Open > Browse.
3. Go to the folder with the damaged file and click it once to select it. Don’t double-click.
4. Click the small arrow next to the Open button and choose Open and Repair.
5. Select Repair. Excel tries to recover as much of the workbook as it can.
6. If Excel shows a list of repairs, read it so you know what changed, then close the message.
7. Save the result right away with File > Save As and a new file name.

Excel sometimes starts this repair on its own. When it detects a damaged file as you open it, it switches to File Recovery mode and tries to reopen and fix the workbook in one go.

If repair fails, extract the data

1. Repeat steps 1 through 4 above.
2. This time, select Extract Data.
3. Choose Recover Formulas to keep formulas where possible, or Convert to Values to keep only the results.
4. Save the recovered workbook under a new name.

An extracted workbook may not keep everything, such as charts or formatting, so check the numbers carefully before you rely on them.

Restore an earlier version

If the file won’t repair, an older copy may be the fastest way back. Which option you have depends on where the file was saved and your settings.

• Version History (OneDrive or SharePoint). In OneDrive or SharePoint on the web, right-click the file and choose Version history. If the file still opens in Excel, you can use File > Info > Version History instead. Open a version from before the problem and restore it.
• Unsaved workbooks. If Excel closed before you ever saved, go to File > Info > Manage Workbook > Recover Unsaved Workbooks.
• AutoRecover after a crash. When you reopen Excel after it crashes, the Document Recovery pane lists files Excel saved in the background. Open the newest one and save it.
• A backup copy. If Always create backup was turned on, look in the same folder for a file named “Backup of” plus the workbook name.
• Windows Previous Versions. If File History or restore points were set up, right-click the file in File Explorer, choose Properties, and check the Previous Versions tab.

Other ways to pull data out

Open the file with manual calculation

A workbook can fail to open while Excel recalculates it. Open a new blank workbook, go to File > Options > Formulas, set Calculation options to Manual, and select OK. Then try opening the damaged file again.

Link to the file from a new workbook

This recovers values only, not formulas or formatting.

1. Open a new blank workbook.
2. In cell A1, type a reference to the damaged file, such as =’C:\Reports\[Budget.xlsx]Sheet1′!A1, using your folder, file name, and sheet name.
3. Press Enter. If Excel asks you to pick a sheet or file, select the damaged workbook.
4. Copy A1 across and down to cover the area your data used.
5. Copy the whole range and paste it back as values so it no longer depends on the damaged file. Here’s how to replace formulas with their values.

Resave a sheet in SYLK format

If the workbook opens but keeps misbehaving, especially when printing, save it with File > Save As as SYLK (Symbolic Link). This strips out many damaged elements. Only the active sheet is saved, so repeat it for each sheet, then reopen the SYLK file and save it as a normal Excel workbook.

If you can open the damaged workbook but only some sheets are healthy, you can also copy those sheets into a new workbook and rebuild the rest.

Protect your work next time

• Keep AutoRecover on. In File > Options > Save, check Save AutoRecover information every and set a short interval, such as 5 minutes.
• Turn on automatic backups. In File > Save As > Browse, open Tools > General Options and check Always create backup.
• Save to OneDrive or SharePoint. Files stored there keep Version History automatically.

Common questions

Should I use an online Excel repair tool?

Try Excel’s own tools first. Uploading a workbook to a third-party site means handing over its contents, which matters if it holds financial or personal data.

Is a Word document fixed the same way?

Mostly, yes, but the menus and options differ. See how to fix a corrupted Word document.

Microsoft’s article on repairing a corrupted workbook also includes a macro for recovering chart data.

Matt