Do you want to know how to recover corrupted excel file 2016? If yes, check out these 6 methods to recover corrupted excel file 2016.
MS Excel, like any other computer program, can get tangled up in messy errors. While using Excel, your spreadsheet can get corrupt at any moment, even when you are working and your data isn’t saved. While the inbuilt ‘Open and Repair’ facility in Excel can fix minor errors, it may prove to be not useful in the case of major problems. Thus, it is imperative for users to know everything they can about Excel file corruption and the ways to recover their data.
What an Excel user should do to prevent excel file corruption 2016
Excel users should use two precautionary measures to prevent file corruption:
1. Create an automatic backup copy: When you start working on a spreadsheet, it is advised to save it using the“Save As” option, selecting “General options” from the Tools drop-down, and then checking the dialogue box “Always create back up”.This will help create a backup of your file, and if the file gets deleted or corrupted at any time, it can be restored to its original state.
2. Automatic recovery of the file at different time periods: By using this option, MS Excel would start creating recovery files at different time intervals as directed by the user. For this go to File option, and click on “Excel Options”. Under Save option on the left, click save AutoRecover information every option, and then add the required minutes and location. This will auto-save the latest version of your spreadsheet according to the interval you set.
The last option of data recovery is some of the data recovery tools available on the internet. However, there are some manual methods also to recover corrupted excel file 2016. Let us now take a look at the possible solutions to repair and recover corrupted Excel file 2016.
Methods to recover corrupted Excel file 2016
Whenever a corrupted Excel file is opened, the application automatically begins a File Recovery module and attempts to reopen and recover the workbook. If you cannot open a workbook because it has been corrupted, you can try to repair it manually. You can also try other methods to recover workbook data when the inbuilt recovery module is not successful in recovering the workbook.
Any of the following methods can be used to recover a corrupted excel file:
1. Reverting the file to the last saved version
If the excel file becomes corrupted before saving the changes, then it can be reversed to last saved version by following these steps:
a. On the File tab, click Open.
b. Double-click the name of the file that you have open in Excel.
c. Click “Yes” to re-open the workbook.
2. Manual method
If the file doesn’t open directly even after several tries, then follow this method:
a. On the File tab, click Open.
b. In Excel 2016, click on the location where the file is located, and click Browse.
c. In the Open dialog box, select the corrupted workbook that you want to open.
d. Click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.
e. Select the option suitable for you as:
- To recover maximum possible data from the excel file, click Repair.
- To extract values and formulas from the excel file, when an attempt to repair the workbook is not successful, click Extract Data. This can be useful when you just need to extract the formulas and values from the corrupted excel file.
3. Opening the file in Html form (from XLS/XLSX to HTML)
Most of the times, the corrupted excel file doesn’t open simply by clicking it. If somehow after repeated attempts, the file gets opened, save the file as a web page and don’t forget to change the location where you’d saved it earlier.
4. Opening the corrupt file in XML form
Try opening the file; if it gets opened, save it in XML format. Then from that version, save it again but now at a different location than the previous one.
5. Set the calculation option to manual
a. Open a blank Excel workbook and from the File tab, click on ExcelOptions.
b. In the Formulas category under Calculation, click on Manual.
c. After clicking OK, again go to the File tab and select the corrupted file and click open.
6. Trust Settings
An easy method to cope with this difficulty is to change the trust settings. In the File tab, at the end there is an option of trust center, go for it and then go to Trust Center Settings and change it to enable protected views.
What to do if nothing works while trying to recover corrupted Excel file 2016?
In case the above methods are unable to repair the corrupt Excel file, try using an Excel repair software. Stellar Repair for Excel is a specialized software utility to repair corrupt Excel files and facilitate easy data recovery.
Concluding Lines
Excel files can be corrupted due to various reasons which can emerge from software and hardware issues. There are various tools and methods to repair Excel file corruption and recover the data in any of the above-mentioned ways. If none of the manual methods works, don’t hesitate to put your trust in a reliable automated solution. Such software will undoubtedly help you recover corrupted Excel file 2016 and regain access to the data stored in the corrupted Excel file.