Recover Data from a Corrupt Excel File
Posted on January 28, 2012 at 8:11 am
Excel files are commonly used to keep and make sense of large amounts of data. Some companies have painstakingly used the same spreadsheets through two decades of Excel versions. So, having a precious spreadsheet suddenly become corrupt is a devastating experience.
Recovering data from a corrupt file can be a pain. One of the most comprehensive tools we have found for recovering data from a corrupt Excel file is Excel Recovery.
Download and install Excel Recovery, then start the software. Immediately, you will the comprehensive nature of the software. Excel Recovery offers several methods that may recover your data. The first method is simply searching for previous versions of the corrupt file, such as those Excel saves as temp files while you are working with a spreadsheet. Choose the corrupt file using the first file icon. If your older versions of your file are found, they will show in the dropdown menu beneath the file selection. Choose a file from the list to attempt recovery.
The next two options try to take your corrupted file and save it in a different format. Available formats are SYLK and HTML. Either of these would allow you to salvage your data and put it in a new spreadsheet.
If that does not work, you can try Microsoft’s methods for opening the file, including opening it in Excel Viewer, using MS Open and Repair or MS Open and Extract Data.
If none of those work, you are left with the more extreme methods. You can try opening the file in Safe Mode, opening it with Word Pad, trying extractions outside of Microsoft’s software and even a zip repair.
If none of these methods work, then your data is probably lost. Prevention is the best defense against losing a large amount of data from a spreadsheet. We always save our spreadsheets in at least two different places. This way if one version becomes corrupt, we still have another waiting to take its place. Cloud storage has made this a painless process, and we highly recommend keeping backups of all your important files.
» Filed Under Free Software Downloads, MS Office Tips
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