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Office 365 iOS App Corrupted Excel File

Anonymous
2023-03-18T18:37:50+00:00

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me with 2 xlsx files that have been corrupted.

I use iCloud to store my documents, I finished working on the 2 files in question on my MacBook in the morning and then later in the day successfully viewed them (not modified) on my iPhone using the Office 365 app.

When I came to open the files again, they are unable to be opened on any device using either numbers or excel. I have tried on my iPhone, MacBook and a Windows 11 PC. The error message is:

"Excel cannot open the file 'ABCDEF.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."

I have tried changing the file extension to xls. I've tried to open and repair the files using Excel on Windows however that hasn't worked either. I've used a couple of trial versions of recovery software and the preview shows the first sheet is there but the remaining sheets aren't which are vital to the spreadsheet.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience of this issue? I've noticed the timestamp of last saved has changed to the date and time I opened them on my phone. I'm not sure why Office365 resaved these files without me making changes or asking me.

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | iOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-06T22:23:06+00:00

    And a very big thank you as well!

    I had the crashing problem as well and I thought I have no chance. But then I found your comment and reinstalled the numbers app.

    So thank you to JonathanOO and you!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-12-04T14:38:00+00:00

    Same exact issue. I’ve noticed every xlsx file that contains an image gets corrupted when opening in the iOS app, whether you modify the file or not. Same thing happens with word docx files. Incredibly frustrating given this is supposed to be a flexible cloud app.

    Features like “open previous version” or “open and repair” shouldn’t be dependent upon using OneDrive. I am a Mac user and have my entire life in iCloud and I have zero issues with any other file types. Microsoft, if you really want an open ecosystem, please do better.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-11-29T13:26:47+00:00

    Just to say the same thing happened to me. I spent 8 hrs creating a project file on my Mac, saved it to iCloud and opened it opened it while on the move on my iPhone. I closed the file and now it cannot be opened using any device I have. It is disconcerting this has been going on so long without any party seemingly taking responsibility. iCloud is supposed to ensure my files are protected and now I feel that my entire back-up strategy has to change.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-09-25T23:50:11+00:00

    Ok, so after about 5 hours of trying various things, this is what actually worked! Thank you so much, I was so gutted when I thought I lost my file!

    The bit I was stuck on was getting Numbers to revert to a previous version of the file, as it kept crashing when I tried that. So then I deleted the Numbers app and reinstalled it, and I could then recover the old version of the file and save it.

    This was the definitive answer to the problem! I also deleted and reinstalled Numbers and used this approach. For months I’ve had problems with Word and Excel [MS 365 versions] on iPad corrupting files when saving to iCloud. I hope MSFT and/or Apple fix this, but if you run into the issue, this is the path to recovery.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-03-18T19:41:14+00:00

    hi AS9AS,

    If you're experiencing an issue with a corrupted Excel file while using the Office 365 iOS app, you can try the following steps to recover the file:

    Check for AutoRecover files:

    a. Open the Excel app on your iOS device.

    b. Tap the "Open" tab at the bottom of the screen.

    c. Tap "Browse" and navigate to the "Recover Unsaved Workbooks" folder. This is usually located within the "Documents" folder.

    d. Look for any AutoRecover files that might correspond to your corrupted file. They will typically have a name like "AutoRecover save of <filename>".

    e. Open the AutoRecover file and see if it contains the data you need. If it does, save the file with a new name to avoid overwriting the original.

    Use OneDrive to restore a previous version:

    If your Excel file is stored on OneDrive, you can try to restore a previous version of the file:

    a. Open a web browser on your computer or iOS device and navigate to OneDrive b. Sign in with your Office 365 account.

    c. Locate the corrupted Excel file in your OneDrive folders.

    d. Click the "More actions" icon (three dots) next to the file, and then click "Version history."

    e. You will see a list of previous versions of the file. Click on a version to preview it, and if you find a version that is not corrupted, click "Restore" to replace the current file with the selected version.

    Transfer the file to a computer:

    If you still cannot recover the file using the methods above, try transferring the file to a computer and use Excel's built-in recovery tools:

    a. Transfer the corrupted file from your iOS device to a computer using email, cloud storage (e.g., OneDrive, Dropbox), or a wired connection.

    b. Open Excel on your computer and go to "File" > "Open."

    c. Browse to the location where you saved the corrupted file.

    d. Select the file, click the arrow next to the "Open" button, and choose "Open and Repair."

    e. Excel will attempt to repair the file. If successful, save the repaired file with a new name.

    If none of these methods work, it's possible that the file is severely corrupted and may not be recoverable. In that case, you may have to rely on any backups you have or start over with a new file. To avoid similar issues in the future, make sure to save your work frequently and keep backup copies of important files in different locations.

    best regards, segunfunmi

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