Excel · .xlsx .docx .xls .doc
Excel · .xlsx .docx .xls .doc“The file is corrupt and cannot be opened”
The file is corrupt and cannot be opened.
Excel or Word could not read the file well enough to try a recovery. In recent versions this message very often means the file was blocked by Protected View, not that it is damaged.
Fix it now, free
Drop the file here. We show you what is wrong and the repaired file before you download it. Nothing is stored.
.xlsx .docx .pptx .xls .doc .ppt, up to 50 MB
Why it happens
- A downloaded or emailed file blocked by Windows (Mark of the Web) or by Protected View.
- A file cut short, so its container's index is missing.
- An old .xls or .doc whose internal filesystem is damaged.
Try these first, they're free
- 1Right-click the file, choose Properties, tick Unblock and press OK, then open it again. This alone fixes most cases.
- 2Check the file's size: 0 KB means there is nothing to recover from this copy.
- 3In Excel or Word, try File › Open, click the arrow next to Open and choose Open and Repair.
How we fix it
If it really is damaged, we rebuild the container (or, for .xls and .doc, the internal filesystem), recover the readable content, and show it to you before you download.
On 384 damaged Office files, we recovered 81% of the content; Office's own repair recovered 53%. See the benchmark.