In today’s world, PowerPoint has different applications. For instance, employees working in an organization use PowerPoint to create presentations on growth & analytics whereas students use it to design compelling presentations for school projects. In either case, PowerPoint is a feature-loaded presentation program that you can use to compile visually appealing presentations for different purposes.
But, what would happen if your PowerPoint presentation got corrupted right before the final submission. Believe it or not, but damaged PowerPoint presentations are a common encounter that many users experience. In this situation, the only way to save your PowerPoint file would be to repair it using the right methods.
In this article, we’ll explain different ways on how to repair corrupt PowerPoint 2007, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2019 files. It doesn’t matter which PowerPoint version you’re running, this guide will help you troubleshoot the problem and avoid any type of data loss.
Part 1: Symptoms
Before diving into the repairing solutions, let’s first understand what are the symptoms of a corrupt PowerPoint file. Ideally, any ‘.PPT’ file that you’re unable to open falls under the “corrupt” tag. However, in some cases, you might be able to open the PowerPoint extension, but won’t be able to access all its data. For example, some of the slides or media files could be missing in the presentation. If you’re facing the same situation, let’s take a look at different methods that’ll help you repair the broken PowerPoint presentations.
Wondershare Repairit: Several Clicks to Repair Corrupt PowerPoint Presentations
If you want to repair corrupt PowerPoint file, we recommend using Wondershare Repairit - File Repair. It’s a professional Windows application that’s specifically designed to repair damaged PowerPoint files. Wondershare Repairit - File Repair for Powerpoint Repair Tool supports ‘.PPTX’ files.
One of the major benefits of choosing Wondershare Repairit - File Repair for Powerpoint Repair Tool is its remarkable success rate. It doesn’t matter if there’s a minor glitch in your PowerPoint file or if it’s severely damaged, Wondershare Repairit - File Repair for Powerpoint Repair Tool will fix it for you.
Here are some of the additional features of Wondershare Repairit - File Repair for Powerpoint Repair Tool that make it the best choice to repair severely damaged PowerPoint presentations.
-
Repair damaged files with all levels of corruption, including blank files, files not opening, unreadable content, files layout changed, etc.
-
It repairs tables, header and footer, charts and all those objects included in the powerpoint.
-
No limit to the number and size of the repairable files.
-
Compatible with PowerPoint files of 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and Office 365.
So, here’s the step-by-step process on how to repair a corrupt PowerPoint 2007 file using Wondershare Repairit - File Repair for Powerpoint Repair Tool.
Step 1: Upload your .pptx files on the Wondershare Repairit
-
Firstly, launch the Wondershare Repairit on your computer and find "File Repair" in "More Types Repair" section.
-
Tap on the “Add” button, and specify the corrupted .pptx files. You can just select multiple documents and upload them on the software.
-
The application saves time by helping you filter out any incompatible format.
-
If you have uploaded the wrong .pptx file by mistake, you will have a chance to remove them manually.
Step 2: Start to repair the corrupted .pptx files
-
Once the documents are uploaded, Click on the “Repair” button to start the quick repairing process.
-
The tool will scan the uploaded .ppxt documents and troubleshoot possible issues simultaneously.
-
The progress of the repairing process will be displayed -- scanned, waiting to be repaired, or completed.
-
There will also be information indicating the number of files that have been repaired.
Step 3: Preview and save repaired files
-
Preview the repaired .pptx files before exporting. Then save the file to the destination by clicking on the “Save” button.
-
If you have repaired multiple files, just click the “Save All” button to export all repaired files.
-
You can also choose your desired destination to store your repaired .pptx files.
Part 3: Other Ways to Repair a Damaged PowerPoint File
1. Change the Location of the PowerPoint File
The easiest and most convenient way to fix a damaged PowerPoint file is to change its location on your hard drive. There are many situations when the issue gets triggered due to bad sectors on the hard drive or other hard-drive related errors.
In this case, you can simply move the PowerPoint file to a different folder. Keep in mind that while changing the location of the ‘.PPT’ or ‘.PPTX’ files, you’ll also have to move all the media files as well. In case the PPT file is on an external storage device, you can simply transfer it to your internal hard drive and this will instantly resolve the issue.
2. Launch PowerPoint in Safe Mode
Another way to repair PowerPoint file 2010 and other versions are to launch the application in Safe Mode. The reason being PowerPoint corruption can also get triggered due to add-ons and other extensions.
But, when you launch PowerPoint in safe mode, it won’t initiate any of these unnecessary add-ons and simply open the file with all the slides. Though you won’t be able to access all the information in your PowerPoint presentation, you could easily edit the file and customize it as per your preferences.
Here’s how you can launch PowerPoint in Safe Mode.
Step 1 - On your Windows system, press “Windows+R” to launch “Run”.
Step 2 - In the search bar, type “powerpoint /safe” and press enter.
Step 3 - At this point, PowerPoint will open in safe mode. Then, click “File>Open” and choose the PowerPoint file that you want to open.
If the file opens without any issues, it’s pretty clear that the issue is being caused by an add-in or extension. To troubleshoot the problem you can remove all the add-ins and extensions from the presentation and edit it again from scratch.
3. Use the “Reuse Slide” Feature in PowerPoint
In a few cases, you could also repair corrupt PowerPoint 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019 files by copying the slides from the corrupt PowerPoint file and inserting them into a new “Blank PowerPoint File”. This method will work in every PowerPoint version and you can even insert the same theme from the damaged presentation.
Here’s how to insert slides from the corrupt PowerPoint presentation into a new blank file.
For PowerPoint 97 to 2003 Versions
Step 1 - Launch PowerPoint and open a new blank file to get started.
Step 2 - Click “Insert” and choose the “Slides from Files” option.
Step 3 - This will launch the Slide Finder on your screen. Use this tool to find the damaged PowerPoint presentation whose slides you want to retrieve.
Step 4 - Tap the “Insert All” option, but before that make sure to tick the “Keep Source Formatting” checkbox. This will ensure that the new presentation has the same design and theme as the old one.
Step 5 - Press “Ctrl+S” to save the new presentation on your system.
For PowerPoint 2007 and Later
If you’re running one of the latest versions of MS PowerPoint, you can use the “Reuse Slide” feature to insert the slides from the broken PowerPoint presentation to the new file. Follow these steps to complete the process.
Step 1 - Again, start by opening a new blank PowerPoint file on your system.
Step 2 - Tap “New Slide” and select “Reuse Slides” from the drop-down menu.
Step 3 - Click “Browse” and choose the corrupt PowerPoint file.
Step 4 - You’ll see a list of all the slides on the right side of the screen. Confirm that all the slides are properly retrieved before proceeding further.
Step 5 - Now, check the “Keep Source Formatting” checkbox and click “Insert All” to transfer all the slides to the new blanks file.
Save the file by pressing “Ctrl+S” or by navigating to “File>Save”
4. Use the “Open and Repair” Utility
You can also repair corrupt PowerPoint 2007 files by using the “Open and Repair” feature in MS PowerPoint. It’s a built-in Windows feature that’s designed to fix minor bugs in PowerPoint files. In other words, this method will only work in a few cases.
Here’s how you can use “Open and Repair” and Microsoft PowerPoint to repair a damaged PowerPoint file
Step 1 - Launch PowerPoint, but do not open any presentation.
Step 2 - Navigate to “File>Open” and go to the folder where the corrupt PowerPoint presentation is located.
Step 3 - Select the file (with a single tap) and use the drop-down menu at the bottom-right corner to select “Open and Repair”.
That’s it; PowerPoint will automatically start detecting and removing the root cause of the problem. If it succeeds, you’ll be able to access the PowerPoint presentation without any interruption.