One of the major drawbacks of an Excel spreadsheet is the chance of losing it, or you can say Excel sheet corruption. But, when it comes to why it happens, there is no one reason. It could be system crashes, virus attacks, and much more. If you have recently faced any Excel sheet error, corruption, freezing, or performance issues. In that case, you are at the right place because, in this post, we will share some of the best Excel repair tools and methods for Windows computers. These methods will help you recover the files partially or completely.
Best Excel Repair Tools & Methods to repair corrupted Excel file
Here, in this section of the post, we will recommend you such five most effective tools and methods to repair the Excel file.
- Microsoft Excel’s Native Repairing Feature
- Online File Repair Service
- Recovery Toolbox
- Move or Copy Data
- Restore the Previous version
So, follow the post till the end to grab complete knowledge about these tools.
1] Microsoft Excel’s Native Repairing Feature
When you are trying to open a corrupted Excel file, Microsoft Excel automatically starts file recovery mode and tries to repair the Excel file. However, if recovery mode automatically doesn’t start, you can do the repairing process manually! Follow the below-given steps to start the complete process.
- Click File > Open; go to the location and folder which contains the corrupted Excel file.
- In the open dialog box, select the corrupted Excel file
- Then click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair. To recover your data, pick Repair.
If the automatic or manual repair doesn’t work, then you can go with some other recovery methods of Microsoft Excel like:
- Recover data from a corrupted Excel sheet
- Automatically save a backup copy of an Excel sheet
- Automatically create a recovery file at set intervals
Recover data from a corrupted Excel sheet
If the Excel sheet becomes corrupted while your work before you save it, then you can quickly revert your Excel sheet to the last saved version. Follow the steps given below to revert.
- Open Excel, and then click File > Open.
- Right-click on the name of the Excel sheet that you have already opened in Excel.
- Select the Open a copy option.
- Next, it will open without any changes you made, which might have caused the Excel file to be corrupt.
In the future, you can follow these methods to have a recovery in place using the built-in features.
Automatically save a backup copy of an Excel sheet
The best part of Microsoft Excel is with a backup copy of your Excel spreadsheet; you will always have access to your data in case your Excel sheet is deleted accidentally or corrupted. Let’s understand how it works!
- Click File> Save As, now click Computer, and then click on the Browse button.
- In the Save As dialog box, click the arrow next to the Tools, then click General Options.
- In the General Options dialog box, check the Always create a backup
Automatically create a recovery
A recovery file of your Excel sheet also ensures access to your data if the excel sheet is deleted or becomes corrupted for any reason. Check below how it works!
- Click File> Options, now in the Save category, under Save workbooks, check the Save Auto Recover information in every box, and then enter a suitable number of minutes. (By default, it is 10)
- Now in the AutoRecover file location box, enter the location where you want to save the recovered Excel file.
- Always make sure that the Disable AutoRecover for this workbook-only box is unchecked.
2] Online File Repair Service for Excel
If you are looking for a paid online excel file repair tool, then you can use Online File Repair Service. It is another reliable online platform that can recover your corrupt excel file.
But this tool can’t recover Excel files having calculation settings, sorting settings, merged cells, embedded objects, graphics, notes, diagrams, hyperlinks, and data validation.
But this tool can quickly recover excel files having cell data, table styles, formatting, fonts, sheets, pages, and more. It supports Microsoft Excel of all versions. You need to upload the corrupted file, provide your email id and click on the next button to start the recovery process. The best part of this tool is it will show you the preview of your recovery file and then ask for the payment (PayPal, credit card, or other payment methods).
Since this is an online tool, we suggest not uploading any sensitive documents.
3] Recovery Toolbox (Online)
If you are looking for an online excel spreadsheet recovery website, then Recovery Toolbox is one of the leading ones you can try. This trusted online Excel file restore tool provides people free excel file recovery services.
First, upload your damaged or corrupted excel file on this website. Then provide your email id and click Next. This online tool will automatically process your damaged excel file and recover it. You can later download the recovered excel spreadsheet easily.
No doubt this is a useful Excel sheet recovery online tool, but this tool can’t recover some of the Excel data like comments, password-protected files, VBA macros, data validity, hyperlinks, calculation settings, sorting settings, print settings, pictures, notes, Asian phonetic blocks, and merged cells. Since this is an online tool, we suggest not uploading any sensitive documents.
4] Move or Copy Excel Sheet
No doubt, you can quickly get several free as well as paid Excel file repair tools on the internet. But if you want to do it manually without taking the help of any third-party application or repair tool, then it’s possible! First, try the Move or Copy method, and you can quickly recover your corrupted Excel file. Then, follow the below-given steps to perform the process.
- Open the corrupted Excel file.
- Right-click on any of the sheet names, and click on select all sheets
- Again right-click on the sheet tab, then click on the move or copy.
- Select the new book option from the dropdown, check the box which says Create a copy, and then click on the Ok button.
- Save the new file with a name and at a location, you can recall. Check whether the Excel file is ok or showing the same error again.
It is one of the best working methods to repair or get back an Excel sheet as it was before. It’s completely safe, and no fear of any data loss. We will always advise you to try this move or copy data method to get back the Excel file without losing any previously saved data.
5] Restore the Previous version of Excel spreadsheet
If your Excel file is corrupted or showing an error, you can quickly get it back with the help of restoring the previous version method. Remember, this method will work only on Office 365 version. Now let’s understand how it works! Follow the steps below to complete the process and get your corrupted Excel file on your Windows PC.
- First, you need to open the most recent version of the Excel file you would like to recover. Now go to File > Info > Version History.
- It will show all the versions available, double-click on the version to recover from the right-side menu.
- Now the selected version will open as a new Excel file. Here, you need to click on Restore or the link where you can copy content from this version or save this version as a separate file.
In this way, you can get back your previously version excel file.
We will also recommend this method as it is safe and has a lower probability of data loss.
Conclusion
Excel spreadsheet corruption is undoubtedly quite annoying, but there are solutions. If you are still following this post, you have a better idea of fixing Excel errors or corruption issues. We have recommended the five most valuable tools and working methods to help you repair your corrupted Excel spreadsheet. Hopefully, our post is helpful for you! If you have any questions, feel free to ask us in the comments section, we would love to answer those.
We all know the importance of repairing your corrupted Excel spreadsheet. Here we have some frequently asked questions that may help you resolve your Excel-related problems. We will recommend you read the following questions and answer sections.
Why do Excel files get corrupted?
Excel files can get corrupted because you did not save them properly. Sometimes corruption occurs because the user did not shut down the program correctly or due to power or hardware failure. Virus or malware attacks can be another prime reason for Excel file corruption. But, overall, the reasons can be different!
Can you repair Excel files?
Yes, you can repair Excel files manually and with the help of tools. For manual action, you need to Click File > Open; now, click the location and folder that contains the corrupted excel file. Next, in the Open dialog box, select the corrupted excel file; now clicks on the arrow next to the Open button, and click on Open and Repair.
How do I fix corrupted files on Windows 11/10?
You can quickly fix corrupted files on Windows with the help of the SFC tool. First, you must type cmd in the search box and click on Run as Administrator to open the Command Prompt window. Then, type the command on the Command Prompt window- sfc/scannow and press the enter key. Now it will scan the whole system and repair the corrupted files on your Windows system.
