The situation when the Excel file does not open is very common and is a very big problem for many users of the Microsoft spreadsheet editor. Why this happens and how to fix possible problems, then we’ll try to figure it out. But first, a brief discussion of the main reasons for this unpleasant phenomenon.
Why does not the Excel file open?
What could be the reason that the spreadsheet editor, designed specifically to work with such files (in addition to the “native” format), refuses to openly refuse to open books? The reasons for the appearance of this situation can be quite a lot, and it is impossible to exclude problems in the operating system. But usually this is due to other factors, among which the main ones are considered to be the following:
- format incompatibility;
- incorrect mapping of file extensions and the program that opens them;
- Incorrect editor settings
- improperly working active add-ons;
- hardware acceleration issues;
- password protection of files;
- data corruption inside books or the files themselves;
- exposure to viruses.
Based on the above considerations, we will look for the most suitable solution to eliminate file open errors for each specific case.
Compatibility issues. The Excel file does not open (writes: “Invalid format or extension”)
One of the most common problems is the inability to open books solely because the latest versions of the editor use the relatively new XLSX format to save files by default, rather than XLS, which was originally used in the 2003 office suite. Obviously, the Excel Excel XLSX file does not open in an outdated editor modification because this version is simply not designed to work with this format.
Alternatively, try opening the source book in an editor that supports the new standard, and save it again by selecting the Excel 2003 spreadsheet (.xls) format. After performing such an operation, the required file will unconditionally open in any modification of Excel.
Mapping problems
Another reason that the Excel file does not open is that the settings that were set to match files to certain programs that should open them by default were violated in the operating system settings.
In this case, you need to go to the default applications section using the “Control Panel” or the options menu (only in the eighth and tenth versions of Windows), then find in the list of formats all those that start with XLS, and after that, if on the right Excel editor is not installed by default, change the standard application by clicking the plus button and selecting a program from the list.
Note: if Excel is not in the list of applications, use the browse button and specify the path to the program executable file (Excel.exe). If there are several versions of the “Office”, the folders will be marked with numbers, so you need to look for the launch file of the spreadsheet editor in the directory whose number is higher (12, 15 or 16, which corresponds to the 2007-2016 package).
Editor Settings Issues
Opening Excel files is also impossible because in the editor its basic parameters are set incorrectly. Surprisingly, this can often be observed even after the first installation of the entire office suite on a computer.
In this situation, you should start the main application (without opening the file) with the creation of an empty book or a new document (depending on the current version of the editor), go to additional settings, and then in the group of general options check the box for ignoring DDE requests from other applications.
Add-on Issues
If all of the above effects did not work and the Excel file does not open, you need to check which of the add-ons of the editor are currently active, and if necessary, disable all or only non-working ones.
You can do this in the options section, called through the file menu, where you need to go to the add-on options, select COM add-ins in the drop-down list below, click the jump button, and then uncheck all the components presented and click the deactivation confirmation button ("OK") .
Note: you can identify an inoperative add-in by disabling each of them in turn, checking whether the file can be opened from Explorer or directly in the editor.
Hardware Acceleration Issues
Sometimes it is impossible to open an Excel file due to the fact that hardware acceleration has been disabled and is not currently involved, as required by the editor itself.
In this case, again you need to use the basic settings of the program, go to additional options and deactivate the item for disabling hardware acceleration.
Password and book protection
Finally, one of the biggest problems is installing protection on sheets or the entire book by setting passwords that will be requested when trying to open files. It’s easy to remove the password if the user has forgotten it, it may not work even when using tools specially provided for this from third-party developers. One of the optimal solutions, which works almost always, is the following. First, in Explorer, you must enable the display of file extensions and rename the protected book with the ZIP extension. After that, using any archiver, you should extract the data and find in the folder into which you unpacked, and find there an XML file, in the name of which there will be a sheet designation and its number (for example, Sheet1.xml).
Open this object in a text editor (for example, in a regular Notepad), find in the content a line starting with the notation <sheetProtection, delete all the contents until the notation <mergeCells, save the file, then repack it in ZIP format, and then rename it to The original format by assigning a previously used extension (.xls or .xlsx). After that, the protection will be removed.
File corruption
But how to restore an Excel file if the editor, when you try to open a book, reports that it is damaged? In this situation, there is also a way out.
In the launched editor, through the file menu, try to open the file by indicating its location on the disk, select "Open and Restore" in the menu of the open button, and then click the restore button. If this does not help and the program reports an error or impossibility to restore, repeat these steps, when restoring, click the data extraction button, and then use one of the options (converting values or restoring formulas).
Viruses
It goes without saying that all kinds of viruses are very fond of office files, so if none of the above suggested files helped, try first scanning the document itself for infection, using not a standard scanner, but some kind of portable scanner. If this does not work, do an in-depth check of the entire system. For such purposes, it is best to create bootable media with Kaspersky Rescue Disk antivirus, boot from it and check the system before it starts.