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Excel File Is Corrupted or Unreadable

Intermediate Excel Errors & Fixes Applies to: Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows 11

"Excel found unreadable content" or the file simply won't open and shows a corruption warning.

Before you start: save any open work and note down what you were doing when the problem started — that context helps if you need to search further or ask for help.
  1. When the "unreadable content" prompt appears, click Yes to let Excel attempt its own repair — this recovers the file successfully more often than people expect.
  2. If that fails, open Excel first, then File > Open > browse to the file > click the dropdown next to the Open button > choose "Open and Repair."
  3. Check for a recent AutoRecover version: File > Info > Manage Workbook, which lists any auto-saved versions Excel kept before the corruption.
  4. If you have OneDrive or SharePoint version history enabled, check for a previous, uncorrupted version of the file there.
  5. As a last resort, try opening the file in an older version of Excel (or Google Sheets/LibreOffice), which sometimes reads past corruption that Excel itself refuses to open.
Still not fixed? Send us the details and we'll help you dig further, or browse related guides in Excel Errors & Fixes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How likely is Open and Repair to actually recover my data?
It varies with how the corruption happened, but it succeeds in recovering at least partial data in a real share of cases — worth trying before assuming the file is a total loss.
Could OneDrive or cloud sync have caused the corruption?
It's possible if a sync conflict occurred while the file was being saved — this is one reason having version history through OneDrive or AutoRecover is valuable, since it gives you an earlier, uncorrupted copy to fall back on.

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