Dec 14, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions
Excel is an excellent spreadsheet software application that is extensively used by individuals and businesses alike. People use it to prepare their home budgets with it while commercially it is used for making invoices and even for payroll purposes too. Some of the companies even use it for data manipulation and analysis as well thanks to the many analytical tools that it provides. Considering the importance of this software application, it is no wonder that people get scared when an error message is encountered when opening an MS Excel file. One such error of note is the ‘Excel Cannot Open the File Error’ of MS Excel 2007.
The ‘Excel Cannot Open the File Error’ of MS Excel 2007 is the most common error that is faced by Excel users around the world. The full error message that is displayed on the screen of the users is,
"Excel cannot open the file 'filename.xlsx' because the file format for 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."
It can be a very disturbing sight for a user to have this error message flash across his screen. This error is usually seen when an excel workbook that has been sent as an email is opened by the user. Emailed excel spreadsheets aren’t the only ones that throw up this error message, though. Normal excel files can sometimes start displaying this error as well without any prior notice. The following are some of the reasons that might be behind the generation of this error message.
Fixes: This error message can be repaired using the following two possible fixes. Once the issue causing the error has been resolved, you will have no trouble opening the excel file that you were trying to open before.
Try Changing the Extension of the Excel Workbook You Wish to Open: If the reason for the error message is a compatibility issue then it would be best to check whether your version of the Excel software supports the xlsx extension or not. See if ‘xlsx’ extension is present in the ‘File Types’ folder which is located in the ‘Folder Options’ of the ‘Tools’ menu in ‘My Computer’. If this isn’t the case then you will have to alter the extension of your excel file to ‘.xls’ from ‘.xlsx’.
Try Using the MS Excel Feature of ‘Open and Repair’: If the reason for the error message is a corrupted excel file then Excel’s ‘Open and Repair’ feature can be used to repair corrupted Excel files. You can find this option in the ‘Open’ dialog box. It is located in the menu that drops down when the arrow next to the ‘Open’ option is pressed. After selecting the corrupted excel file, click on this feature, it will perform the excel file repair and get the file to open without issue.
If the above-mentioned methods fail to fix the issue then using an excel repair tool remains the only available option. Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair is one of the best excel repair software available in the market at the moment. It is recommended that you make use of this software to repair corrupted excel file and get it to open normally. The reason why Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair is so good at its job is that it has a myriad of features that enable it to fix any kind of issue being faced by the excel files.
The following is a step-by-step tutorial that will teach you how to repair corrupted excel file using the Stellar Phoenix Excel Repair.
You can avoid getting your excel files corrupted by ensuring that you have an updated version of a good anti-virus program. Moreover, taking proper care when shutting down the system can also help in avoiding the corruption of an excel file.
The following tips might help you in doing the excel file repair if all other resolutions fail.
Amy Dennis
staff Editor
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