In Excel: use File ▸ Open ▸ Browse, select the file, then click the arrow beside the Open button and choose Open and Repair — take Repair first, and Extract Data only if that fails.
Copy the damaged file first and work on the copy — several of these steps overwrite it.
File ▸ Open ▸ Browse ▸ select the file ▸ click the arrow beside Open ▸ Open and Repair ▸ Repair.
If Repair fails, run it again and choose Extract Data, then pick Convert to Values when asked.
Still nothing: try opening it in Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc or Numbers — a different parser sometimes succeeds.
For .xlsx only: copy the file, rename the copy to .zip, extract it, and look in xl/worksheets and xl/media for the sheet XML and images.
Check File ▸ Info ▸ Manage Workbook ▸ Recover Unsaved Workbooks and the AutoRecover folder for an earlier version.
Save whatever opens under a new name before doing anything else.
What this does
Excel's built-in Open and Repair is the first and usually the only tool worth reaching for. It offers two passes: Repair rebuilds the workbook structure and keeps formulas where it can, and Extract Data pulls values (optionally converting formulas to their last calculated results) out of a file too damaged to rebuild. When both fail there are two more routes that cost nothing: opening the workbook in a different application (Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers each have their own parser and sometimes read a file Excel rejects), and — for .xlsx files, which are ZIP archives — renaming a copy to .zip and extracting it to recover the embedded worksheet XML and any images. "The file format is not valid" is usually not corruption at all but a mismatched extension: a .xls file renamed .xlsx, or an HTML export saved with a spreadsheet extension. Most people learn this as a sequence of clicks and forget it by next week; learning it as a pattern instead is what lets you apply it to the next, slightly different version of the problem without starting from scratch. That is the difference this page is trying to make. For “repair corrupted excel file”, the reliable version is a short checking loop, not just the first command that appears to work. Run it on a deliberately small range first, watch how the affected cells change, and only then apply the same setup to the full sheet. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That is what makes a data step that keeps your analysis trustworthy useful in real work: repeatable, auditable, and not dependent on memory or luck.
A worked example
A 40 MB workbook that closed during a save now refuses to open. File ▸ Open ▸ Browse ▸ select it ▸ arrow beside Open ▸ Open and Repair ▸ Repair. Excel reports it removed a damaged chart and opens the rest with formulas intact. Save immediately under a NEW name, so the original stays available if the repair turned out to be partial. A damaged workbook is recoverable far more often than it looks, and the free routes work often enough that paying for a recovery tool should be the last step rather than the first. If there is any chance you will reuse this, drop it into a small template tab right now: a labelled input area on the left and the formula beside it, checked once against the tool above. Next time the same question comes up, the answer is a single paste away instead of a rebuild from memory.
In Google Sheets
Google Sheets handles this almost identically to Excel. The formula syntax above is the same, and the menu lives under a slightly different label rather than a ribbon tab. Use the platform toggle at the top of the page to switch every keyboard shortcut between Windows and Mac, and expect at most cosmetic differences in naming. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top, the tool proves it, and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. Here is the takeaway for “repair corrupted excel file”: copy the answer if you are busy, but if you have a spare few minutes, rebuild the example in Excel yourself with the tool above open beside it. That single pass — type it, run it, watch the result move when you change an input — is what turns a formula you found into a technique you trust. Keep your inputs labelled and referenced, never hard-coded, and the same sheet stays correct and auditable as it grows. Done that way, you will not need to look this up again, and you will be the person others ask.
Common mistakes
- Repairing in place, so a partial repair destroys the only copy you had.
- Paying for a recovery tool before trying Open and Repair, another application, and the ZIP route — all free.
- Assuming "file format is not valid" means corruption when the extension simply does not match the real format.
- Ignoring the cause: a workbook that corrupts repeatedly usually points at a flaky network share, an add-in, or saving over SMB with a dropping connection.
- Overlooking AutoRecover, which often holds a version only minutes older than the damaged file.
Frequently asked questions
How do I repair a corrupted Excel file?
File ▸ Open ▸ Browse, select the file, click the arrow beside Open, choose Open and Repair, and take Repair before Extract Data.
Can I recover data if Repair fails?
Run Open and Repair again and choose Extract Data, which recovers values and can convert formulas to their last results. Failing that, open the file in Google Sheets or LibreOffice.
What does "the file format is not valid" mean?
Usually that the extension does not match the contents — for example a .xls or an HTML export renamed to .xlsx. Rename it back to the true format and reopen.
Why does Excel keep crashing on one file?
Common causes are a broken add-in (start Excel in Safe Mode), an enormous used range, volatile formulas across hundreds of thousands of rows, or saving directly to an unreliable network share.
Are online Excel repair services safe?
They require uploading your data to a third party. Try Open and Repair, another spreadsheet application and the .zip extraction route first — they are free and keep the file on your machine.
Other ways people ask this
On the way here you may have searched this as “repair corrupted excel file online”, “how to repair corrupted excel file”, “how can i repair corrupted excel file” and “how to repair excel file corrupted” — it is all the same task, and this page is the single, complete answer to it.
Platform & version notes
- Some variants pin a specific edition (the web version). The method above is stable across recent Excel releases — older versions only differ in where a ribbon icon sits, not in what the steps achieve.
Does this still work in older versions?
It does. The approach has been stable across recent Excel releases; only the ribbon icons have shifted cosmetically, so the steps above still apply.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “repair corrupted excel file online”, “how to repair corrupted excel file”, “how can i repair corrupted excel file” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.