How to fix Error: "Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.xlsx”


Have you ever suffered with this error while accessing the excel file:

"Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.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."

I have faced this error yesterday while I was working on Excel. ( I found it interesting topic so I am writing a blog post:)..

My Live Scenario: I have several excel files stored on my system. I used these files from the same computer daily. Yesterday, when I tried to open several files in Excel 2007 then I found   following error on my computer screen:

"Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.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."

After full research on the error, I come to know about the causes & solutions of the error:

Causes: As the error indicates itself the cause of the error that is 

1.The file is incompatible with Excel.
2. The file is corrupted 

There is other possibility that the filename starts with !~ or something like this it is a temp file that got stuck and not the actual file.

Solutions: 

1.Go to your desktop and click on my computer, then go to Tools, folder options,File types and check if you have xlsx extension there if not then Rename the file and change ".xlsx" to ".xls".

2. Another option is to open Excel file, go to File | Open. Select the file in the open window and choose Tools in the bottom right, then choose Open and Repair.

Another Recommended Solution: I have found in forum post that so many users have already suffered with the same error message and failed to resolve this error message. I would like to share to all those users who were unable to resolve this error message through above steps then they should try for third party Excel Repair Software. The software can repair corrupt Excel file as well as it also resolves most of the corruption errors & repair Excel file successfully. 

I am sure after reading this article you are confident to resolve excel file error!!

Comments

  1. excel cannot open the file 'Daily Mailing sheet.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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your file is get corrupted. First try Open & Repair option. If it is not work then try above tool.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This worked for me... delete the temp file found here:

    C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

    Windows 7

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good to hear that you have solved the problem!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, I got this error message once while accessing a Excel file.
    Your first solution worked for me. Thanks for valuable post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Riley,

    Congratulations!!!
    Glad to hear that your problem sorted out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. excel cannot open the file 'Daily Mailing sheet.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

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Simple Tips to Fix Bookmark Not Defined Error

5 Powerful Solutions to Fix QuickBooks Error 6177

How to solve “This document may be damaged (the file may be truncated or incomplete)” JPEG image error