FixMyFile › Error guides › Excel (.xlsx)

We found a problem with some content in …. Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can?

Excel (.xlsx) · what this error means and every free fix to try first

We found a problem with some content in yourfile. Do you want us to try to recover as much as we can?

What's actually wrong

Excel's container opened but some worksheet XML is damaged. Formulas in the damaged region are usually lost, but cell values — especially text — typically survive in the shared-strings table, which is stored separately from the sheets.

Free fixes — try these first

  1. Click Yes — Excel's recovery restores what it can (often stripping formulas but keeping values).
  2. Try File → Open → Open and Repair → choose Extract Data if Repair fails.
  3. Check OneDrive/SharePoint Version History for an intact earlier version.
  4. Try LibreOffice Calc.

If the free fixes fail

When Excel's extraction comes back empty, the shared-strings table often still holds your data — we read it directly.

Check what's recoverable — free, in your browser.

Drop the file on our analyzer. It runs locally (the file never leaves your computer) and shows you an honest recovery percentage with a real preview. If nothing is recoverable, we say so plainly — and you pay nothing, ever, for the diagnosis.

Analyze my file free