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FAILURE TO OPEN EXCEL FILE

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BBKP

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Hello everybody

i am failing to open the attached excel file. how do i go about it. the file keeps giving me a message excel file not valid. I have tried to use various online software downloads with no success. the error message i get when i try to open the file is as indicated below. The file is very huge about 15MB hence i have failed to upload it to the forum

"Excel cannot open the file 'file.xlsx' because the file format or the file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file."

your assistance will be greatly appreciated
 
Hi ,

The .xls format is different from the .xlsx / .xlsm / .xlsb format.

The former consists of only one workbook file , while the latter is actually a .zip file consisting of several ( in some cases more than a hundred ) individual files.

Thus , you can rename a .xlsx / .xlsm / .xlsb file to .zip and open it with archive software such as WinZip , WinRar , 7-Zip.

If you are unable to open the renamed file with such software , then it is likely that the file is a .xls file ; you can rename it with this extension and try opening it using Excel. If you cannot , then it is likely that the file is corrupted.

If you can open the renamed file with archive software , you can save it again , and then retry opening it after first renaming it to .xlsx , .xlsm and .xlsb in turn. If this too fails , again the file is probably corrupted.

Narayan
 
NARAYANK991 said:
Hi ,

The .xls format is different from the .xlsx / .xlsm / .xlsb format.

The former consists of only one workbook file , while the latter is actually a .zip file consisting of several ( in some cases more than a hundred ) individual files.

Thus , you can rename a .xlsx / .xlsm / .xlsb file to .zip and open it with archive software such as WinZip , WinRar , 7-Zip.

If you are unable to open the renamed file with such software , then it is likely that the file is a .xls file ; you can rename it with this extension and try opening it using Excel. If you cannot , then it is likely that the file is corrupted.

If you can open the renamed file with archive software , you can save it again , and then retry opening it after first renaming it to .xlsx , .xlsm and .xlsb in turn. If this too fails , again the file is probably corrupted.

Narayan
Click to expand...


Thank you all for the reply. The option to change file extension is proving difficult because I am not able to open the save as dialogue box. Is there another option or menu which I can use to change the file extension.

This file was corrupted when my laptop hard drive crushed. when I tried to open the file on a new laptop that's when it started refusing to open.

Looking forward to your kind assistance
 
Hi ,

If a workbook file has been corrupted in a hard disk crash , then I think it is beyond repair.

I am sorry that I cannot offer any more help.

Narayan
 
You don't need SaveAs to change file extension.

Basically you need to disable the "Hide extensions for known file types" option from Control panel - Folders Options - View tab.

Then just change the .xlsx to .xls/.xlsm/.xlsb
 
Found this answer on another site (http://www.computing.net/answers/office/the-file-formatfile-extension-is-not-valid/19454.html )

"First try to rename file. Go to tools, folder options, file types and check you have .xlsx extension. If not then rename the file .xlsx to .xls

Second try to use excel command in file menu – Open and Repair. File, open, select the corrupted file and click open and repair option.

Another recommended solution: if you was unable to resolve this problem through above steps then you should try any third-party software. There are a lot of them on the internet, both free or pay versions.

Also you can find more information here:http://www.ask.com/answers/616743761/problem-opening-a-xls-file?qsrc=14106/ "

Hope this helps you!
 
Hi BBKP,

This error happens while opening an older version of an Excel file in a newer version.
I'm not very sure if the file corrupted because of a hard drive crash can be repaired or not but if it can be, you can try changing the excel file extension to ".xls".

1. Go to your file explorer
2. On the top, click on View.
3. Check the "File name Extensions" (and all your files should start showing their extensions)
4. Now rename your file and change the extension to ".xls" from ".xlsx".
5. Now try opening the file.

This should work out for you.
If this doesn't work for you, go for a third-party tool to recover your file which provides you the feasibility to see the preview of your file.

Best Regards.
 
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