How to Recover Excel Files on Windows & Mac [Native, Online, & Offline Solutions]

When you have lots of important data in a spreadsheet, you can’t afford to lose it. Yet, you may lose access to these important sheets, or they may refuse to open them by showing errors. While the issue can be troubling, you can always trace it back to general causes, like software errors or system shutdowns. There are many solutions that you can use to fix these issues and recover Excel files.

So, this guide will discuss the best ways you can use to recover your spreadsheets and the data within them. We will share many online and offline solutions that are easy to follow and remove most errors from the sheets. Additionally, you will learn about an advanced tool that resolves the problems that require technical solutions.

Part 1. Native Ways to Recover Excel Files on Windows & Mac

As said above, you will learn about multiple ways to repair your file, follow the detailed solutions below to recover the corrupted Excel file:

Way 1. Built-in Open & Repair for Excel

This innovative spreadsheet software includes a repair feature to recover damaged files. It is recommended to use this method when a file is inaccessible due to unexpected shutdowns or software crashes. While the method is quite effective, it is available only on the Windows version of the spreadsheet program. To learn how this method works to recover an Excel corrupted file, follow the steps given below:

Step 1. Access the spreadsheet program and click the “File” tab to reveal a menu tab. Afterward, press the “Open” button to select the problematic file from your storage.

Step 2. Upon selecting the damaged workbook, tap the “Arrow Down” button beside the “Open” button. Here, you need to select the “Open and Repair” option from the drop-down to fix the file.

Way 2. Change Your Excel File Extension

Many times, a spreadsheet becomes unreadable because of issues related to the file format. Thus, you can try changing the extension to help the program recognize and open the file properly. It becomes especially useful when the software does not recognize the file format or when it was saved incorrectly. You can follow the steps outlined below to learn how to recover corrupted Excel files on both operating systems:

For Windows

Instructions. Commence by finding the problematic file in its parent folder and right-clicking on it. Afterward, click the “Rename” option from the drop-down and switch the extension from “XLSX” to “XLS” or “CSV.”

For MacBook

Instructions. You need to follow the same method on your macOS device and access the damaged spreadsheet in its parent folder. Afterward, rename the file by double-clicking on its name to change its extension. Upon editing the extension name, press “Return” and choose “Use (New Extension)" from the pop-up.

Way 3. Remove Unwanted Add-ins from MS Excel

Although you can equip your spreadsheet tool with different extensions to improve its functionality, they can prevent files from opening. Therefore, you should try disabling unnecessary add-ins to fix these issues. Since add-ins can be added on all operating systems, you can follow this method to recover Excel file Mac as well. Hence, follow these steps on both devices to see if they resolve the problem:

For Windows

Step 1. Upon opening the workbook software, tap the “Options” button to access a new menu.

Step 2. Here, you need to go to the “Add-ins” tab and press the “Go” button beside the “Manage Excel Add-ins” drop-down.

Step 3. Finally, uncheck all the Excel add-ins or those creating the problem and press “OK” to disable them.

For MacBook

Step 1. Initiate by opening a spreadsheet in Excel and pressing the “Insert” button from the top menu. Afterward, you need to select the “Add-ins” option and then the “My Add-ins” button from the drop-down.

Step 2. Finally, select the extensions you want to disable and press “Ok” to complete the process.

Way 4. Repair Your Microsoft Office to Open Excel Files

When the above methods don’t work, you should use the repair feature of Microsoft Office as the final resolve. That’s because the software itself can get damaged due to glitches or faulty updates, and it may be unable to open files properly. Once again, this method works on Windows, and you cannot follow it on macOS. So, follow the steps below to understand how to recover Excel files with this method:

Step 1. Access the “Apps” tab in your desktop settings and go to the “Installed Apps” section. Afterward, scroll down and find the “Microsoft Office” setup to repair it. Then, press the “Three Dots” beside it and select the “Modify” option.

Step 2. In this step, you need to select what type of repair you want to perform. Thus, start with the “Quick Repair” option and press the “Repair” button to go through the process.

Step 3. Finally, click the “Repair” button to show your approval from the small pop-up to commence the process.

Part 2.Best Online & Offline Solutions to Recover Excel Files [Most Powerful Ways]

With the above solutions, you can recover corrupted Excel files most of the time. However, they won’t work when there are deeper issues with the spreadsheet itself, and you will need the following professional tools to repair them.

Way 1. Repairit Online - File Repair

Since you need advanced repair tools to solve the workbook problems when simple methods fail, try the File Repair feature of Repairit Online. It’s the best choice because it allows users to quickly fix their spreadsheets. With this useful tool, users can upload their damaged files and instantly receive the repaired version. While repairing files, it ensures their formatting and the original content remain the same.

To repair files, the tool uses complex AI algorithms to analyze the problematic sections of the damaged file. Once it finds the problem, it solves it using a sample library while ensuring the data within the file remains intact. As a result, all your pivot tables and formulas in the file will remain unaffected. It doesn’t only recover Excel files but also supports the repair of Word documents and ZIP files.

Wondershare Repairit - File Repair

Try It Free Try It Free

1,010,994 people have downloaded it.

• Repair damaged Excel files with all levels of corruption, including blank files, files not opening, unrecognizable format, unreadable content, files layout changed, etc.

• Repairs all kinds of data stored in damaged Excel files such as tables, charts, formulas, comments, images, etc.

• Support all formats of Excel files: XLSX/XLSM/XLTX/XLTM/XLS

• Perfectly repair corrupted files with a very high success rate, without modifying the original file.

• No limit to the number and size of the repairable files.

• Support Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022, and macOS 10.10~macOS 13.

• Except for Excel, Repairit also supports all formats of PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ZIP, and Adobe files.

Detailed Guide to Repair Your Excel Sheets Using Repairit Online

Although the tool offers advanced features and uses complex algorithms, using it is equally simple. To learn how to recover the corrupted Excel file in Repairit, you can follow these steps:

Step 1. Commence the repair process by accessing the “Online File Repair” feature from the tool’s homepage. Afterward, press the “Add” button to formally initiate the repair process.

Step 2. Here, you need to click the “Add Files” button and select the damaged spreadsheets from your device’s storage.

Step 3. Repair and save the Excel files

Way 2. Repairit Desktop - File Repair

While the online version of the tool is more than enough to solve file errors, the tool’s software takes things to a new level. With the offline version, you get support for over 19 different file formats. In addition, you can upload multiple files at once and remove errors from them. Unlike the online version, this one supports any file size and has no restrictions on the number of files.

After repairing your damaged files, you can access them in a preview window to see if they open fine. Apart from your Excel sheets you can repair your media files, like images and videos, on this tool. Additionally, macOS users can get this software to recover Excel files on Mac. Other than media repair, it can improve your video and images to enhance their quality.

Stepwise Guide to Recover Your Damaged Excel Files Using Repairit

After learning about the software’s advanced repair features, it’s time to learn how it works. Thus, follow the steps outlined below to recover the Excel corrupted file in Repairit with ease:

Step 1. When you’re done installing the software, launch it and go to the “More Types Repair” tab. Here, click the “File Repair” option to access this feature’s functionality for your sheets.

Step 2. Next, press the “+Add” button and choose the problematic spreadsheets from your device’s storage.

Step 3. Initiate the repair process and save them

Conclusion

To conclude, your important spreadsheets can fail to open due to many software errors and corruption issues. You can solve such problems by utilizing many online and offline solutions of Repairit that repair your Excel files within seconds. For general glitches, the built-in solution of Excel can repair them easily. Additionally, the repair feature of Office can help in solving many file errors in its software.