Share via

xml parsing error

Anonymous
2025-04-29T17:04:50+00:00

A Word file broke on a USB. When I try to open it, the following message appears: "xml parsing error". I have tried everything suggested to other customers, but anything works. Nor conversion to .zip nor XML validation. May someone repare my file?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

6 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-05-06T21:47:55+00:00

    If you send me a copy of the file, I will see if some of it can be recovered.

    If the document is not too large to attach to an email message, send me a copy of it that way, referencing this thread in the covering email message and I will see if I can recover your document.

    Alternatively, upload a copy of the document to the following folder of my OneDrive

    Corrupt Documents

    and send me an email to the address shown in my signature to let me know that it is there.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2025-05-06T09:23:36+00:00

    Dear Doug,

    I have the same problem with a word file that has been saved to a removable USB device. Lesson learned..

    May I also send you my file in order to take a look at it., please?

    Thx a lot in advance,

    BEst,

    Holger

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-30T22:13:28+00:00

    Almost certainly, the document.xml component of the file is incomplete.

    If you send me a copy of the file, referencing this thread in the covering email message, it may be possible to recover something from it, but it is very unlikely that all of the document can be recovered.

    As Graham said, you should NEVER work on a Word document that is located on anyform of removeable media.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Charles Kenyon 167.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-04-30T17:10:43+00:00

    I do not know that anyone is going to be able to help with this one.

    Doing anything on a flash drive/USB Stick from within Word is the most frequent cause reported here for lost documents / corrupted documents. Do everything on the hard drive. Then copy to the flash drive.

    To work on something on a flash drive, copy to the hard drive. Work on it there. Then, outside of Word, copy it back.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2025-04-30T16:19:07+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for posting this issue in the community forum.

    Based on your query, it seems you are looking to repair a Word file. You can try doing this directly within Microsoft Word using its built-in repair features.

    Refer to the link for detail instruction how to do that
    Open a document after a file corruption error

    I appreciate your understanding and patience.
    Sincerely, vats_arrow | Microsoft Community Moderator.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments