A spreadsheet that worked yesterday can suddenly refuse to open, display a warning about damaged content or show an almost empty workbook. Avoid repeatedly clicking Yes or Repair without keeping a copy first. Your best chance of recovering the information may depend on preserving the original file before you try anything else.
Excel has a built-in Open and Repair command, and it can sometimes recover a workbook that will not open normally. If that fails, you may still be able to extract values and formulas, restore an earlier cloud version or find an AutoRecover copy. None of those methods guarantees success. The aim is to try the least destructive options first, then work through the alternatives in a sensible order.
First, make a copy of the damaged file
Before opening or repairing anything, find the file in File Explorer and copy it to a different folder. Give the copy a clear name such as sales-report-recovery-copy.xlsx. Keep the original untouched until you have checked that a recovered version contains what you need.
This matters because a repair may discard damaged parts of a workbook. You could regain most of your tables but lose a chart, formatting, formulas or a sheet. If you have only one copy and overwrite it with the partial result, you may make later recovery attempts harder.
If the workbook is on a USB drive or network location, Microsoft recommends moving a copy to a local drive when a disk or network error is preventing it from opening. Do not keep working directly on a device that is disconnecting or reporting errors. If the storage itself appears to be failing, stop writing to it and consider professional recovery rather than repeatedly trying to access it.
Use Excel's Open and Repair command
This is the main recovery method for a workbook that Excel says is corrupt. The important detail is opening the file through the Open dialogue, not simply double-clicking it in File Explorer.
- Open the desktop version of Excel without opening the damaged workbook.
- Choose File → Open, then browse to the folder containing your recovery copy.
- Select the damaged workbook once in the Open dialogue.
- Click the small arrow beside the Open button.
- Choose Open and Repair.
- Select Repair when Excel offers the choice.
Excel may start its own file recovery automatically when it detects a damaged workbook. If that happens, read the result and check what it recovered. You can still use the manual route on a separate copy if the automatic attempt is incomplete.
When the workbook opens, do not assume that everything is fixed because you can see the first worksheet. Look through each sheet, check formulas and totals, and inspect any charts or tables you rely on. Save a recovered version under a new name so you can compare it with the untouched original.
Microsoft documents the exact route in Repair a corrupted workbook.
Try Extract Data if Repair cannot open it
In the same Open and Repair dialogue, Excel may offer Extract Data when a repair fails. Microsoft says this option can extract values and formulas from the damaged workbook.
That is a rescue operation, not a promise to restore the entire spreadsheet. Think of it as recovering the useful figures and calculations first. Formatting, charts, connections and other workbook features may not survive intact.
If the extraction works, save the result as a new workbook. Compare a few known figures with another report, invoice or earlier copy. Check essential rows and columns before relying on recovered figures.
If Excel asks whether you want to recover formulas or values, consider what you actually need. Values may preserve visible results when formulas cannot be recovered properly; formulas may be essential if the workbook is intended to keep calculating. Keep separate recovered copies where possible rather than forcing one attempt to serve every purpose.
Check OneDrive or SharePoint version history
If the file lives in OneDrive or SharePoint, an earlier saved version may be more useful than repairing the damaged current one. Version history can show previous versions of a cloud-stored file, although availability depends on the service, account and retention settings.
In Excel for Microsoft 365, open the file if possible and look for File → Info → Version History. Select an earlier version to inspect it. If it is the version you need, use Restore. You can also inspect a cloud file's version history from its OneDrive or SharePoint location.
Be careful: restoring an earlier version can replace the current version as the active file. If there have been useful edits since that point, save a separate copy of the current state first. You may be able to recover those newer changes manually rather than lose them.
Version history is not the same thing as a normal Windows folder full of backups. A workbook stored only on your desktop will not suddenly have OneDrive version history unless it was actually saved or synchronised there.
See the Microsoft support information linked below for version and recovery options.
Look for an AutoRecover or unsaved workbook copy
Excel's AutoRecover feature can sometimes help when the problem followed a crash or an unexpected closure. It is worth checking, but AutoRecover is not a substitute for a backup and may not contain the very latest changes.
Open Excel and inspect the recovery options it offers. Microsoft describes a route through File → Info and the workbook-management area to find an unsaved workbook. The wording varies with the version and whether you are recovering a previously saved file or a file that was never saved at all.
If you find a promising recovery copy, open it and immediately use Save As to store it under a new name. Then inspect the contents. Do not overwrite the damaged original before confirming that the recovered file is complete enough to use.
A recovered copy may be older than expected. Compare timestamps and important changes.
The Microsoft support guidance cited below distinguishes document recovery from the repair of damaged workbook data.
What if Excel opens the workbook but the contents are wrong?
Corruption does not always produce a dramatic error message. You may find missing sheets, strange values, broken charts or formulas that return errors. First confirm that you have opened the right file and not an older copy with a similar name.
If the workbook is open and the problem appeared during the current editing session, Microsoft describes reopening the last saved version as one possible recovery method. This discards changes made since that save, so it is unsuitable if those unsaved edits are more valuable than the damaged state. Make a copy of whatever can still be saved before reverting.
If a few cells are wrong, you may be better off recovering them from version history or another copy instead of running a whole-workbook repair. A targeted comparison can protect the good data that remains.
Check formulas as well as their displayed answers. A formula can still produce a plausible number even when one of its source ranges has shifted or disappeared. For an important workbook, reconcile totals against an independent record.
The safest order to try
Make a copy first. Use Open and Repair on that copy, then Extract Data if necessary. Check cloud version history and AutoRecover where applicable. Only then experiment with other applications or specialist recovery methods, keeping the original untouched.
A recovered workbook is useful only if its information is trustworthy. Check the sheets, formulas, totals and important records before returning it to everyday use. Microsoft's official corrupted-workbook guidance remains the primary reference for the recovery commands described here.
Primary sources reviewed: Microsoft.