Excel on Mac file is corrupted

Question

I have a critical excel file that I cannot open on my Mac Book Pro - M2

I think it is related to update to Excel Version 16.93.1 (25011917) which I updated today - here is error message - Excel cannot open the file 'RetirementPlanning copy 2.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.

Answer 1

Dear Matthew Rankel

Thank you for your reply.

If only the file cannot be opened, it should be damaged. Have you backed up the file in another path? Or have you sent the file to other users? You can try to retrieve the copy file.

Time Machine on Mac is indeed a way to recover data. You can refer to this article:

Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac – Apple Support

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

I hope the above information is helpful to you. Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

Tracy - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Dear Matt rankel

Thanks for raising your concerns in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you are having problems with Excel not opening on Mac. I understand how you feel, and this problem is indeed troubling.

Since you mentioned that this problem occurred after Office was updated, it may be that there was an abnormality in the identification of files and licenses after the update. We can refer to the following solutions for troubleshooting:

-->Delete Office License

• First, you need to close all Office components on your Mac.
• Go to this link to download the Office License Removal Tool.
  • How to remove Office license files on a Mac - Microsoft Support

• After downloading, open it directly to install it, and keep clicking [Next].
• After installation, you can choose [Keep] or delete the tool.
• Then open any Office component, and you will need to log in to your Microsoft account again under normal circumstances.
• Check whether activation is successful. If you are still prompted to subscribe, you can click [Activate] and log in to your account again.

-->Roll back Office version

• Uninstall Office components on Mac.
  • Uninstall Office for Mac - Microsoft Support
• Go to this link to download an older version of Office.
  • Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn

• Download the installation package on the interface and install it.

After waiting for the installation to succeed, pause the update of Office and check the operation of Excel.

• Open any Excel component and click [Help]--[Check for Updates] in the upper menu.
• In the pop-up window, click [Advanced].
• Then uncheck [Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date].
• If a confirmation window pops up, click [Close]

I hope the above information is helpful to you. We are looking forward to hearing from you and will continue to assist you.

Best Regards,

Tracy - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

Thanks Tracy,

I removed the MS license and removed Office and then resintalled an older version of Office and unfortunately it did not work.

I am getting the same error

"Excel cannot open the file 'RetirementPlanning copy 2.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."

Do you have any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Matt

Answer 4

Dear Matt rankel

Thank you for your reply. I need to confirm whether this is the only file that cannot be opened? Are other Excel files normal?

If only this file cannot be opened, perhaps we can test it by sending the file to your phone and trying to open it on the phone to see if the same error message will appear. This is to test whether the file is damaged.

Or you can try to manually change the file suffix from .xlsx to .xls, and then try to open the file. Be sure to back up the file before the operation.

If other files also have this problem, perhaps we can try to completely uninstall Office and reinstall it.

Uninstall Office for Mac - Microsoft Support

Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

Tracy - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 5

Hi

Try moving the file to your Mac OS Documents folder. You might try opening it in Apple Numbers, OneDrive, or possibly LibreOffice. I don't see any illegal characters in the file name, but check for illegal characters in your Mac OS volume name and any enclosing folder.