Cannot open file

Question

I created a file from an Excel template on an iPad. I have been working with it for a couple of days but now it is giving me an error message when I try to open it. The below is the message I get. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

“Excel cannot open the file ‘abc.xlsx’ because the file format or file extension is not valid. Verify the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file’

Answer 1

Hello, Lee Brazier

Welcome to Microsoft Community.   

I realize that you have encountered a problem with opening an Excel file on iPad, and I understand how you feel.

According to the error message, this problem may be caused by the corruption of the file itself or the location where the file is stored.

So, I would like to know where this Excel file is saved?

If you open Excel app -> Open -> find the location where the file is saved and directly open it. Will this work?

1 -> If it is saved to local iPad, you can try:

• Compress the Excel file into a .zip file, unzip it, and then try to open it.

2 -> If it is saved to OneDrive, you can try:

• Sign in OneDrive.com in browser, find this Excel file there. Can you open it in the web version?
• Click the "More actions" icon (three dots) next to the file, and then click "Version history." 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.

3-> If it is saved to iCloud, you can try:

• Directly open the file form iCloud.

Additionally, you can try opening this file on other device (Mac/Windows/etc.) or from other applications (For example, Numbers). You can also refer to this thread: Office 365 iOS App Corrupted Excel File - Microsoft Community

If the steps above don't work, I'm afraid you need to seek help from a third-party data recovery software or company.

Best wishes, 

Lucia Wu - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist