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

Hi Tracy,

1. other xlsx files open with no issues, it is only this specie files that is not opening in excel and giving the error message
2. I changed the file extension from xlsx to xls and received a different error message, but was still unable to open the file.
3. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling office per the link Uninstall Office for Mac - Microsoft Support

Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Matt

Answer 3

Thanks Jim,

I tried Numbers, Google sheets and even downloaded LibreOffice and all 3 still give me an error.

pretty sure the file is corrupted!!

:(

any other ideas?

Answer 4

If this is a file you had previously saved somewhere, then use the next most recently saved version to go forward. If it was saved locally to your Mac, then you can recover it with Time Machine. If it was saved elsewhere, the device or service may have version recovery features you can use

Learn how to use Time Machine to restore specific files

If the file was provided to you by a third party, contact that third party and ask for a working version.

On the outside chance your system caused the corruption, you might want to verify your startup volume:

How to repair a Mac storage device with Disk Utility