Excel table files may be damaged. This can happen by completely different reasons: a sharp failure of the power supply during operation, improper preservation of the document, computer viruses, etc. Of course, it is very unpleasant to lose information recorded in the books of Excel. Fortunately, there are effective options for its recovery. Let's find out exactly how to restore damaged files.
Recovery procedure
There are several ways to restore the damaged book (file) Excel. The choice of a specific method depends on the level of data loss.Method 1: Copying sheets
If the Excel book is damaged, but, nevertheless, it will still be opened, the fastest and most convenient way to restore will be the one that is described below.
- Right-click on the name of any sheet above the status bar. In the context menu, select the item "Select all sheets".
- Again, in the same way, activate the context menu. This time, select "Move or Copy" item.
- A movement and copy window opens. Open the "Move Selected Sheets to the Book" field and select the New Book parameter. We put a tick opposite the "Create Copy" parameter at the bottom of the window. After that, click on the "OK" button.
Thus, a new book was created with an intact structure, which will contain data from a problem file.
Method 2: Reformatting
This method is also suitable only if the damaged book opens.
- Open the book in Excel. Go to the "File" tab.
- On the left side of the window that opened the window by clicking on "Save As ...".
- The save window opens. Choose any directory where the book will persist. However, you can leave the place that the program will specify by default. The main thing in this step is that in the "File Type" parameter you need to select the "Web Page" item. Be sure to check that the save switch stood in the "All Book" position, and not "dedicated: list". After the choice is made, click on the "Save" button.
- Close Excel program.
- We find the saved file in HTML format in the directory where we have preserved it before. I click on it with the right mouse button and select "Open using" in the context menu. If the "Microsoft Excel" item is found in the list of the optional menu, then go through it.
In the reverse case, click on the "Select the program ...".
- A program selection window opens. Again, if you find "Microsoft Excel" in the list of programs, select this item and click on the OK button.
In the opposite case, click on the "Overview ..." button.
- The conductor window opens in the installed directory. You should go through the following address template:
C: \ Program Files \ Microsoft Office \ Office№
In this template, instead of the "No." symbol, you need to substitute your Microsoft Office package.
In the window that opens, select Excel file. Click on the "Open" button.
- Returning to the program selection window to open a document, select the "Microsoft Excel" position and click on the OK button.
- After the document is open, again go to the "File" tab. Choose the item "Save As ...".
- In the window that opens, set the directory where the updated book will be stored. In the "File Type" field, we set one of the Excel formats, depending on how the extension has a damaged source:
- Excel book (XLSX);
- Excel 97-2003 book (XLS);
- Excel book with macros support, etc.
After that, click on the "Save" button.
Thus, we reformat the damaged file through the HTML format and save the information in the new book.
Applying the same algorithm, you can use not only HTML as a transit format, but also XML and SYLK.
Attention! This method is not always able to save all data without loss. This is especially true of files with complex formulas and tables.
Method 3: Restoration of the not opening book
If you cannot open the book with a standard way, then there is a separate option to restore such a file.
- Run Excel Program. In the "File" tab, click on the "Open" item.
- The opening window will start. Go through it to the directory where the damaged file is located. Highlight it. Click the icon in the form of an inverted triangle near the "Open" button. In the drop-down list, select Open and Restore.
- A window opens in which the program will make damage analysis and will try to restore the data. Click on the "Restore" button.
- In the event that the recovery is successfully completed, a message appears about it. Click on the "Close" button.
- If you cannot restore the file, you return to the previous window. Click on the "Extract Data" button.
- Next, the dialog box opens in which the user has to make a choice: try to restore all formulas or restore only the displayed values. In the first case, the program will try to transfer all the available formulas in the file, but some of them due to the peculiarity of the cause of the transfer will be lost. In the second case, the function will not be removed, but the value in the cell that is displayed. We make a choice.
After that, the data will be open in a new file, which in the title to the initial name will be added the word "[Restored]".
Method 4: Restoration in particularly difficult cases
In addition, there are cases when none of these methods helped recover the file. This means that the book structure is very violated or interferes with recovery. You can try to recover, performing additional steps. If the previous step does not help, then go to the following:
- Completely exit the excel and reboot the program;
- Restart the computer;
- Delete the contents of the TEMP folder, which is located in the Windows directory on the system disk, restart after this PC;
- Check the computer to viruses and, in case of detection, eliminate them;
- Copy the damaged file to another directory, and already from there, try to restore one of the above methods;
- Try to open a damaged book in a newer version of Excel if you have no last option. New versions of the program have more opportunities to restore damage.
As you can see, damage to the Excel book is not yet a reason to despair. There are a number of options with which you can restore the data. Some of them work even if the file does not open at all. The main thing is not to lower your hands and try to correct the situation with the help of another option.