Get rid of “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened” in Excel 2010

Quick tip: learn how to access a corrupt xls. file in Excel 2010

Usually when upgrading you expect nothing but improvements. So it can be really disappointing when after moving to Excel 2010 you have no chance to access your .xls file created in the application version 2003 and earlier. You understand what I’m talking about if you ever encountered “The file is corrupt and cannot be opened” error in Excel 2010. Still think you can’t open it? Actually you can!

Try the following to see how your precious .xls data appear in MS Excel

1. Open the application.
2. Click on File -> Options.
3. Select Trust Center and press the Trust center settings button.
   
4. Pick Protected view.
   
5. Uncheck all the options under Protected View and confirm by pressing OK.
6. Restart Excel and try to open the broken Excel documents.

For safety reasons, you should save your document with new Office format like .xlsx. You can do it this way:File > Options -> Trust Center -> Trust Center settings -> Protected View.
Check all the options again under Protected View, click OK and restart Excel.

This will set the security options back. Sure, you don’t want to open any file unsafely.

That’s it. Hope it will work for you and your documents  .

Thanks and see you!