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[Quick Fixes] Cannot Open Excel the File Because The File Format or File Extension is Not Valid
Are you encountering Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid? Read and follow this stepwise guide to easily open and recover Excel files.
By Irene / Updated on November 16, 2023
Scenarios: Notice with “Because the file format or file extension is not valid”
Hi All,
I have an Excel .xlsx file saved in my system which has been corrupted. I at least need to recover the data stores. It is a file of 124 KB and has around 35 worksheets in the workbook. I have tried all possible ways to recover and repair the file. I even tried to extract the data using 3rd third-party application like Stellar, ease of use recovery application of Excel still had no luck. The below error message I’m getting whenever I try to open the file. I even tried to open it through other applications like WordPress, Google sheets, and so on but nothing works.
- Question from Microsoft Community
Have you faced the frustration of encountering this error while opening Excel files - “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid”? No worries! Sometimes, Excel gives an error due to incompatible file extensions for your Excel version or file format corruption. And there are several solutions exist to resolve this problem without data. Just follow these steps to sort it out quickly!
3 ways for fixing Excel cannot open the file
Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid is not difficult to solve. Try the following fixes to easily deal with the situation.
Way 1. Change the file extension
Often, Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid happens because the type of file doesn’t match what Excel needs.
Excel usually saves files as either XLSX or XLS. Older versions like Excel 2003 save as XLS, while newer ones from Excel 2007 and beyond (like 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019) use XLSX. You can switch the default file type to one that your Excel version supports.
Step 1. Launch Microsoft Excel and access the "File" tab. Then, choose "Export" and select "Change File Type".
Step 2. Adjust the file extension to a format supported by MS Excel and hit "Save As". Afterwards, test if Excel opens your file again.
Way 2. Modify the file's permission
When you are noticed with Excel file format or file extension is not valid, it could be due to not having administrative rights for these files. In such cases, altering the file permission can resolve this issue.
Step 1. Right-click on the Excel file that won't open and choose Properties from the menu.
Step 2. In the file's Properties dialog, pick the Security tab and click Edit. In the Permissions dialog, select Add.
Step 3. In the Select Users or Groups dialog, click Advanced. In the subsequent dialog, click Find Now, choose Everyone from the search results, then click OK.
Step 4. Back in the Permissions dialog, you'll see the Everyone group added. Select Everyone, tick all boxes under Allow, and click Apply.
Way 3. Run Open and Repair in Excel
If you've attempted previous methods and the error persists, it's probable that the file format is corrupted. At this time, you can run "Open and Repair", which is a helpful tool within MS Excel designed to fix the "Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid" issue.
Step 1. Type "Excel" in the taskbar search box and press Enter to launch the Excel app. Then, click on "Open" and within the Open section, select "Browse".
Step 2. When the Open dialog appears, find the Excel file that won't open and choose it. Click the arrow next to the Open button, and select “Open and Repair” from the drop-down list.
Step 3. Upon seeing a warning dialog, click on "Repair".
Step 4. Once the Excel file is repaired, it will open automatically with a prompt dialog. Click "Close" to dismiss the prompt.
Step 5. Go to File > Save As to save the mended Excel file under a different name or in a different location.
How to recover corrupted Excel files successfully?
When the Excel file is severely damaged, sometimes even Open and Repair can't fix it all, which means Excel still cannot open the file. In such case, you need to use professional data recovery software to recover corrupted Excel files like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.
This versatile assistant handles various data loss situations like corruption, formatting issues, virus attacks, accidental deletions, and more. It's capable of restoring even unsaved Excel files and recovering lost data from numerous storage devices. Whether you've lost data from an external hard drive, SD card, HDD, SSD, or any other storage medium, this tool can lend a helpful hand.
In addition, beyond supporting a wide range of data loss scenarios and storage devices, it excels at restoring pictures, videos, emails, documents, and over 200 other file types.
Step 1. Download and run this data recovery tool, and click "Recover” > “Recover Data” in turn.
Step 2. Choose the target partition where the lost files stayed before, and click “Start Scan”.
Step 3. All deleted files will be listed. Choose the files you want to recover and click “Recover”.
Step 4. Choose a destination folder path and click “Select Folder”.
Step 5. When you see the following window, the lost files have been successfully recovered, click “OK”.
Summary
Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid can be fixed in 3 ways. We also share how to recover corrupted Excel files with AOMEI Partition Assistant if other methods do not work out.
Apart from data recovery, the multifunctional software, AOMEI Partition Assistant offers many practical features as well. For example, Clone Disk allows you to create an entire copy of your Windows PC, which ensures efficiency in disk upgrading and data safe. What’s more, it provides App Mover, Duplicate Files Finder, Delete Large Files, and so on can effectively expand your storage space.
