People from all walks of life have their lives depended on MS Office applications. If you juggle with documents, prepare Excel sheets, or often have to deliver presentations, you probably know what we are talking about. And, then when you suddenly get messages like Word found unreadable content or Excel file is corrupted and cannot be opened or the file is corrupted and cannot be opened, it’s not a good sight!
Why Do MS Office Files Become Corrupt?
Several things can damage an MS Office file –
- A deadly Virus attack
- Files become corrupted during the migration
- You abruptly unplugged your flash drive or external hard drive during which, though the files were transferred but they became corrupt
How Can I Repair Damaged Microsoft Office Files?
There are ways more than one to repair corrupt Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other files. We have listed some of the easiest ways below –
1. Use The Repair Utility That The MS Office Application Provides
Be it Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, all these utilities come with an inbuilt utility using which you can repair a damaged Microsoft document. Microsoft itself recommends that you use this feature in case your document has become corrupted due to some reason. Here are the steps that can help you repair a corrupt Microsoft Office document –
1. Open the Microsoft Office Application depending on the file that has got corrupted. For example – if it is a corrupt .doc file, you will be opening Microsoft Word if it is a corrupt .xlx file, you will be opening Microsoft Excel, and so on
2. Click on File > Open
3. Navigate to the location where the corrupt file is placed
2. Repair Office Installation Via Settings
To repair a corrupted MS Office file, you can take the help of Windows Settings to rectify application installation. The below-listed steps can repair all applications of Microsoft Office. These include Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint –
1. Press Windows + I to open Settings
2. Click on Apps
3. From the right-hand side click on the Office product you wish to repair
4. Next, click on Modify button that you will be able to see just below the title of the program
5. Click on the Repair radio button and click on Continue
6. Once the repair is done, you will be prompted to restart your PC
3. Repair Corrupted Office Files Using A Third-Party Software
Okay! So have just dodged a computer crash and have most files intact. But a folder that had important documents related to an office project has become corrupt. Here’s what you are dealing with – A corrupt PowerPoint presentation, a damaged Excel file that is constantly flashing the error “Excel file is corrupted and cannot be opened” and a broken Word document. Plus, there were even a few important PDFs regarding policies that are refusing to open for some reason. And, guess what the deadline is approaching like a ticking bomb. What would you do now? In such a dire situation, we recommend that you install a specialist tool that can help you repair Office files with maximum surety.
Stellar Toolkit for File Repair is one such tool. Presuming that you are in a soup right now, let’s first immediately see how can this tool help you repair corrupted files including Excel Workbooks, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and even corrupt PDFs –
1. Download, install and run Stellar Tool for File Repair
2. From the interface, select the Microsoft Office file you want to repair. For example, if you want to repair corrupted Powerpoint files, select Repair Powerpoint File
3. When the Window pops up, select all corrupted files that you want to repair
4. Hit the Scan button and the process for repairing will start
5. The best part is the software is true to the core, it displays the information that can be recovered. You can see that on the left-hand side of the software. This also implies you can preview the information before recovering it
6. Next, click on the saved button and hit Enter
7. Click on OK
Why Choose Stellar Toolkit for Repair?
- You can repair Word documents, corrupted PowerPoint files, damaged Excel WorkBooks, and even PDFs
- If there are images and videos in the Word file that have become corrupted, the tool even repairs that
- Repair multiple files
- Preview information that can be recovered
4. Repair Office Installation Via The Control Panel
The Control Panel in Windows is an alternate route via which you can repair Office Installation. Here are the steps for the same –
1. In the Windows search bar type control panel
2. Select Category in the View by section
3. Click on Programs
4. Click on Uninstall a program
5. Choose the Microsoft Application that you want to repair and then click on Change on the top
6. Click on the Repair radio button
7. Once the repair is done, you will be prompted to restart your PC
8. In the Open window, look at the Open dropdown that you can find next to Tools. Click on this dropdown and then further click on Open and Repair as shown in the screenshot
Follow the on-screen instructions and check if you have been able to repair the document now or not.
5. Repairing Damaged Microsoft Files online
If your life depends on a Word document, Excel Workbook, or a PowerPoint presentation that has become corrupt due to some reason, you can head to the World Wide Web and seek help. Several online tools can help you repair Microsoft application files and that too in no time at all. One such online tool is OfficeRecovery. For repairing Office documents, you can visit the below-mentioned links –
Once you have clicked on any of the above-listed links, click on the Choose file button and select an appropriate file. In case the file is password-protected, click on the hyperlink that says Click here and then enter the password. Then, click on Secure Upload and Repair
The downside with online tools is that they are not as feature-rich as several third-party software that can repair Office files. And, also the uploading and the restoring process could be a little time-consuming.
Wrapping Up
Liked what you read? Were you able to repair corrupted Excel, Word, or Powerpoint files? Do share your success story with us in the comments section below. Also, share the blog with someone who might be in need. For more such content, keep reading Tweak Library.