Did you get an error message of 'Excel cannot open the file **.xlsx because the file format or file extension is not valid' while trying to open a file? Quick fixes and advanced solutions are available here to fix this problem and access your document.
Many users may encounter an error when trying to open or edit an Excel file in Office 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. The error message displays, 'Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid'. This article will provide you with the effective solutions to resolve Excel cannot open the file error, and get your MS Excel data back right here now.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Fix 1. Change File Extension | Open Microsoft Excel and go to 'File' > click Export and choose Change File Type.Full steps |
| Fix 2. Open in Safe Mode | Press Windows+R key, type: excel.exe /safe and click 'OK' > Save the file as .xlsx.Full steps |
| Fix 3. Use Open and Repair | Start Office Excel > click File and Open > select the inaccessible Excel file.Full steps |
| Fix 4. EaseUS File Repair Tool | Use EaseUS MS Office document repair tool to fix corrupted or damaged Excel files when Excel cannot .Full steps |
Sometimes, when you try to open or edit an Excel file on Microsoft Office 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016, you may encounter the following problem:
'Excel cannot open the file 'filename.xlsx' because the file format or file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file.'
Use Numbers to open Microsoft Excel documents. Use Keynote to open Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. If you don’t have Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on your Mac, you can get them from the App Store. They’re also available for your iOS and iPadOS devices (from the App Store) and on iCloud.com.
It usually indicates the file is not compatible with the Excel version or the file has come corrupt or damaged. In this article, we will show you all the possible solutions, and you can try them respectively until fixing the issue.
There are four useful solutions in total to solve the Excel cannot open the file issue. Besides, two methods are provided to recover Excel when the file format or file extension is not valid.
Many times, this error occurs due to the incompatible file extension of the Excel file. MS Excel saves Excel workbooks as XLSX or XLS file by default. Excel 2003 and earlier version save files as XLS, whereas Excel 2007 and later versions like the Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016 and 2019 save files in XLSX file format. You can change the default file format for the corresponding Excel version to any other file format supported by MS Excel.
Step 1. Open Microsoft Excel and go to the 'File' tab.
Step 2. Click 'Export'and choose 'Change File Type'.
Step 3. Change the file extension to any other file format that MS Excel supports and click 'Save As'. Then, Check if Excel can open your file or not.
If Excel cannot open the file, try running Excel in safe mode to see if it can be accessed successfully. This method also checks if there are any errors in MS Excel.
Step 1. Press Windows+R key, type excel.exe /safe,and click 'OK'. Loading Excel without templates and add-ins allows you to see if the program works as it should or if it is corrupted.
Step 2. If Excel opens normally, check for any add-ins that are causing problems in Excel. Disable the add-ins and click on the 'OK' button.
Step 3. Restart Excel to check if the problem is fixed. If not, move on to the next approach.
The 'Open and Repair' is a built-in easy-to-handle MS Excel utility that allows you to correct the error Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid.
Step 1. Start Office Excel. On the File menu or the Microsoft Office button, click 'Open'.
Step 2. In the Open dialog box, click to select the inaccessible Excel file.
Step 3. Click the down arrow on the Open button, and then click 'Open and Repair'. Microsoft Office will then start to check the Excel document and repair problems or corruption it found.
If Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid problem is caused by file corruption rather than file compatibility, you need a professional file repair program to help you fix the problem.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is an all in one tool that can help restore corrupt files easily and efficiently. It can help to repair corrupted JPEG/JPG or recover damaged MP4 and MOV files on both Windows and Mac computers.
This professional MS Office Excel file repair tool has the following salient features.
Now, download EaseUS MS Office document repair tool for free and follow the step-by-step guides below to repair damaged Excel files with three steps.
Step 1. Select a location to start finding corrupted Excel files
Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and then scan the corrupted or damaged Excel files.
Step 2. Repair and recover corrupted Excel document
First, find the damaged files through the filter, file path, search, etc.
Second, preview and repair. This program will automatically repair corrupted and damaged Excel files.
Tip: It supports single file size <= 100MB.
Step 3. Save the Excel file to a secure location
Click 'Recover' to save the repaired Excel files to a safe location ( DO NOT save the files back onto the same hard drive partition or external device where you lost the data from).
If your unsaved Excel file cannot be opened because the file format or file extension is not valid, how to recover unsaved Excel file? Try the two ways below.
This method can only restore lost files to a previous version. It means that you may lose some changes you may have made to the document.
Step 1. Right-click the inaccessible Excel document and choose 'Properties'.
Step 2. Open the 'Previous Version' tab to list all the previously stored version of the Excel file.
Step 3. Choose the right version and click 'Restore' to retrieve the document.
This method only works when you have turned on the AutoSave feature in Office Excel. And it's also helpful for recovering unsaved Word document.
Step 1. Open Office Excel and got to the 'File' tab > click 'Info'.
Step 2. Besides Manage Versions,you'll see all autosaved versions of your file.
Step 3. Open the file in Excel and click 'Restore'.
Eos x el capitan. Step 4. Save the file with another file name and set the extension as .xlsx.
There are many ways to prevent data loss. If you have lost important Excel files due to careless deletion, hard drive formatting, or virus attack, you can use the data recovery tool to retrieve lost data. There is another crucial point to avoid data loss, which is backing up your Excel file at any time.
Except for restoring unsaved Excel caused by Excel crashes when saving or other reasons, many users need to recover lost excel spreadsheets caused by accidental deletion, OS crash, hard drive damaged/corrupted, or lost partition. On this occasion, you have to resort to a professional file recovery tool for help. And EaseUS file recovery software is worth to try. It allows you to recover deleted DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, PPT/PPTX, PDF, CWK, HTML/HTM, INDD, EPS, etc. with a few clicks.
Give it a try to get your lost Excel back immediately:
Step 1. Specify a location.
Run EaseUS Data Recovery Software. Choose the drive X: or perhaps a specific folder on Desktop or somewhere else where you lost the excel files, and then click 'Scan'.
Step 2. Scan for data.
During the scan, you'll see more and more data showing up very quickly in the 'Deleted files' result. That's part of what the software has found and displayed. To quickly find the Excel files in the massive data in the scan results, click on the 'Filter' on the top area and choose 'Documents'. Or, search .xls or .xlsx in the Search box.
Step 3. Preview and recover.
You can double click on a file to preview its integrity. Finally, select the desired files and click 'Recover'.
If you need to modify and change your worksheet frequently, turning on the AutoSave feature is also necessary. Or you can also copy and backup your file to another safe location manually in case of accidents.
'Excel cannot open the file '(filename)' .xlsx because the file format for file extension is not valid' is a usual error that you can face while opening an Excel file. With the help of the above methods, this error can easily be resolved without data loss.
If Excel cannot open the file problem is due to file corruption, EaseUS file repair tool can help you fix and recover the Excel file with a few clicks in a short time. It is good at repairing photos, videos, documents, and other files on the hard drive, SD card, memory card, or any other storage medium. No matter they are lost or existed on your devices. It's worth a shot.
The following four frequently asked questions are highly related to Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid. If you also have any of these problems, you can find the methods here.
How do I fix file format or file extension is not valid?
You can try to fix Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid by changing the file extension:
Step 1. Open your Excel file. On the taskbar, select 'File'. Then select 'Options' > 'Export' > 'Change File Type'.
Step 2. You can directly change the file extension depending on the version of Excel installed. Click 'Save As'. Then, check if the error 'Excel cannot open the file' is resolved or not.
How do I recover an Excel file format or file extension is not valid?
You can restore Excel file format, or file extension is not valid from previous versions.
Select the damaged file. Controls for fortnite mac. Right-click it and click 'Properties' > 'Previous Version'. A list of previous versions will appear; you need to select the option you are interested in and click 'Restore' to recover. Previous versions come file File History or from restore points.
What does file extension not valid mean?
'Excel cannot open the file '(filename)' .xlsx because the file format for file extension is not valid' is a common error that many users may encounter while opening an. xlsx file, especially when opening a spreadsheet received through an email. The possible reasons for this issue might be:
Why can't I open an XLSX file?
When the Excel file is corrupted, not compatible with the Excel version, infected by the virus, or received by email are the common cause of 'Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid' problem. Any of these problems appear, you could not open an XLSX file.
Nov 16, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions
As a bookkeeping employee in a large firm, I have to handle countless data quickly. Excel was the right tool to sort and organize the data related to the organization. In an unexpected situation, the excel sheet was crashed without my knowledge and all my data in the excel sheet disappeared in no time. I was desperately in need of help to get back the lost data. The techniques surfed through the internet directed me to the 'Open and Repair 'utility built-in feature of the excel sheet. But that strategy did not work for me well and this has led me to search for the best excel file recovery software to restore excel file optimally. In this article, you are going to learn a lot about the optimum ways of data restoration in the excel file.
You need an excellent data recovery tool to work on the Windows and Mac systems. The data recovery software should be efficient enough to tackle any sort of repairs in the excel sheet flawlessly. Moreover, the steps involved in carrying out the recovery process must be simple enough so that even laymen can try out without any hesitation.
If you want to find out the path of the recovered excel file then follow the below steps carefully
Step 1: Open the excel sheet by tapping Start-> All Programs -> Microsoft Office ->Microsoft Excel 2007.
Step 2: Click the top left corner icon and from the dropdown list select the 'Word Option' button.
Step 3: In the left panel choose the 'Save' option and the corresponding right panel shows the parameters related to the Save activities. Beneath the 'save workbook' title the third item displays 'Auto Recover file location'. Besides this label, you can find the path of the auto-saved or auto recovered excel file which can be used for future reference when the sheet becomes unresponsive due to unknown reasons.
Apart from the built-in utility related to the excel file recovery you can make use of a third party software titled Recoverit data recovery to achieve a flawless data restoration process.
Features of Recoverit Data recovery software
Go through the steps for excel file recovery using the incredible tool Recoverit data recovery software.
Launch the software and then select a location where data lost. How do i upgrade my mac to the latest version. Then click the Start button to go on.
Recoverit will start an all-around scan. Usually, it will take a few minutes to finish the scanning. Sometimes, a few hours are required if many large-sized files are present.
With the scanning process done, click the preview button to check the recovered file and then click the Recover button to save the file.
In the above screenshot, you can view the XLS files in the right panel. Check out that option and press the 'Recover' button. The deleted excel files will be restored automatically without any flaws.
To restore the corrupted excel file you have to select an effective tool such that it performs well even during complex situations. Make use of Stellar Repair for excel if you want to witness flawless results consistently.
Features of Stellar Repair for excel platform
You have to surf through the below steps carefully if you want to retrieve the lost excel sheet successfully. You will be able to get back the lost data similar to the original file without any regrets.
Torrent pro tools 12 mac. Step 1: Download the software
Go to the official website of Stellar and download the Stellar repair for excel. Install the software by following the wizard. Tap the icon to begin our excel data recovery process.
Step 2: Search for the corrupted excel file
The next step is to find out the corrupted file to carry out the restoration process. The add file option will lead to a new window displaying the 'Search File' button. This button enables the user to spot out the desired corrupted excel file. You can also search through folders and using the 'Select Folder' button.
Step 3: Trigger the scan and recover the lost excel data
https://drotdejotxu1977.mystrikingly.com/blog/minecraft-ios-gratis-2019. After selecting the corrupted excel file then press the 'Scan' button. Soon after the scanning process tap the 'Recover' button to restore the lost excel data preserving the formatted cells without any flaws. The restored file will look similar to the original one. You will be able to view all the excel objects along with the formatting cells optimally.
With the help of the advanced options available in this Stellar Repair for excel tool, you will be able to store the recovered excel file at your desired location. You can also create a new folder to store the entire recovered files for a better reach. This advanced option allows the user to organize the restored excel data files wisely.
Hereafter you need not panic if your excel file got corrupted unknowingly. Make use of this excellent tool to retrieve the lost files effectively. Follow the above-discussed steps cautiously to end up with successful results. It is enough if you click the options according to the above-discussed steps for a quick recovery of the corrupted excel files.
If you take a closer look at the scenarios for the excel files being corrupted is due to the unexpected interference of unknown virus and malware which might be downloaded to your system without your knowledge. As you all know that the excel files were widely used to carry out online activities and hence it is highly vulnerable to mishandling.
When multiple users try to edit the same excel file then it will ultimately crash down all of the sudden. Another scenario for the excel file being corrupted is due to the system crash because of the hardware or software failure. When the power supply turns off for unknown reasons then the file will crash down unexpectedly.
In case if the excel files contain a large count of data then it is not possible to secure in your system for a longer period. It will be subjected to corruption at one point in time. If the maximum count of data exceeds in the sheet then the excel file will be corrupted automatically.
While switching between the versions of the Excel spreadsheet tool you will encounter with unknown issue leading to corruption. The file gets corrupted when you try to edit the excel files switching between different versions.
When the excel file is corrupted then you will observe the following symptoms
Users should pay attention to some of the indicators related to the corrupted excel file
Proactive measures to avoid corruption in the Excel file Massive slot wins.
It is inevitable to secure the excel data in the long run without any corruption. You have to learn how to deal with the corrupted file and carry out the data recovery steps effectively. This article gives you a better knowledge of protecting the excel data and avoid the file being corrupted frequently. You have to take respective measures to secure the file from unwanted issues. Now you would have gotten a clear understanding related to the excel restoration using inbuilt features, Stellar repair for excel, and Recoverit data recovery software. Make use of this discussion to retrieve excel files successfully without any regrets.
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