XLSX Repair

An .xlsx file is a ZIP archive of XML files: one per sheet, plus shared text, styles, charts and a list that ties them together. The tool checks every part and fixes:

• A missing or broken file index, the usual result of a download or save that stopped early. Everything up to the cut is kept, except a cell cut in half. Check the last rows of a sheet that was cut off: a number in the last cell can come out shorter.
• Broken XML in a sheet or another part: tags left open, stray & characters, characters XML forbids, repeated attributes.
• The content type list and the links between parts, rebuilt when they are missing or point at parts that aren't there.
• The calculation chain (xl/calcChain.xml), removed when it is damaged or when a sheet lost content. Excel rebuilds it the next time it calculates, so no data is lost.
• Sheets listed but missing. They are taken out of the workbook so the rest opens. Formulas that refer to a missing sheet keep their last value. The diagnosis marks this as lost content.
• Missing shared text. Excel keeps most cell text in one shared list (xl/sharedStrings.xml). If part of it is gone, the cells that used it are emptied so the workbook opens, and the diagnosis says so.

The diagnosis lists every problem with the part it was in, for example xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml, and says whether it was fixed and whether any content was lost.

What it can't fix

• Data that isn't in the file, such as the part of a cut-off file after the cut.
• A workbook whose main part (xl/workbook.xml) is missing or cut off, or one with no sheets left. The diagnosis says so, and there is no copy to download.
• Password-protected workbooks. The tool can't read them, and it doesn't remove passwords.
• Old .xls files from Excel 2003 and earlier, which use a different format.
• Formulas that give wrong answers. The repair fixes the file's structure, not its contents.

Work on a copy of the file. Menu names can differ a little between Excel versions.

Open and Repair

1. In Excel, select File, then Open, and go to the folder with the workbook.
2. Select the workbook once.
3. Select the arrow next to Open, then select Open and Repair.
4. Select Repair to recover as much as possible.
5. If that fails, repeat and select Extract Data to get the values and formulas out.

Set calculation to manual

A workbook that hangs or crashes while it calculates may open with calculation off.

1. Select File, then New, then Blank workbook.
2. Select File, then Options, then Formulas.
3. Under Calculation options, select Manual, then select OK.
4. Open the damaged workbook.

If the file is on a network drive or a USB stick, copy it to your computer first. If Excel still refuses it, use the tool at the top of this page.