Recovering Data After Excel File Corruption

Many of us use MS Excel to perform various financial calculations, statistical analysis, business or personal records. While we usually think that the data stored in Excel is safe, sometimes an Excel file gets corrupted. Corruption in Excel file occurs due to numerous reasons like improper system shutdown, virus infection, application malfunction, power failure, and many alike. The end result of corruption of the Excel file comes out to be fatal as the data in the Excel file cannot be accessed anymore. To access your data, you need to have a recent data backup file. However, if you do not have a backup, then a powerful excel repair application will enable you to retrieve your data from the corrupted Excel file.

For instance – In some cases, when you try to open an Excel file, you may encounter any of the below mentioned error message:

“Cannot find the file.”
“Unable to read file.”
“Unexpected Error (35012).”
“File format not valid.”
“The file *.xls caused a serious error the last time it was opened.”

After the occurrence of any of the above error message, the Excel file does not open and ultimately your data becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

The root cause of all the above mentioned error messages is the corruption of Excel file. This happens due to the following reasons:

When a computer shuts down, it closes all the open files. But, in case the computer crashes, then the open Excel files get corrupted.
Excel file corruption can also occur when the hard drive develops s bad sector and the Excel files are within that sector.
Some software problems like unexpected closure of the files cause corruption of Excel files.
Another reason for Excel corruption is virus infection.

Resolution:

To resolve the Excel corruption issues, you will need to repair excel file using an effective third-party application known as excel repair software. These applications employ high-end scanning mechanisms to ensure complete retrieval of your data from the corrupted Excel file. Embedded with rich graphical user interface, these tools are easy to use and understand.

“Too many different cell formats.” error message causing Excel file corruption

A spreadsheet is an  MS Excel object, which consists of  columns, rows, and cells, each comprising of different aspects, which include size, background colors, border, text orientation, etc. But, at times,  situations arise where you might experience some issues while formatting cells or columns in excel, which may cause corruption of Excel file. In such situations, the data saved in the Excel file becomes inaccessible. In order to access the data, you will need to use an updated backup file. However, if you have not maintained any backup, or the backup itself gets corrupted, then a powerful excel repair software will enable you to retrieve all the data from the corrupted Excel file.

For instance – Sometimes, when you try to format a cell or range of cells, you encounter the below mentioned error message:

“Too many different cell formats.”

This error message leads to corruption of the Excel file or workbook, due to which you fail to access the data stored in the file.

Cause:

The above mentioned error message mainly occurs if the workbook contains more than 4000 different combinations of cell format. In other words, the error message is the result of complex formatting used, which generally occurs in shared workbook leading to corruption of the file.

Resolution:

Try to resolve the problem by simplifying the formatting in the workbook. Consider the measures given below to simplify the formatting:

Try using a standard font. This will reduce the number of formatting combinations.
Try to use borders consistently in worksheets.

Save and close the workbook after simplifying the formatting. Then, reopen the workbook before applying additional cell formatting.

In most cases, you will succeed in resolving the problem by following the above mentioned measures. However, if the problem continues to exist, then you will need to excel file repair by using a effective excel repair software. Employing high-end scanning algorithms, these applications provide quick and accurate retrieval of your data. These applications are carefully incorporated by highly proficient technicians, who furnish these tools with interactive graphical user interface to make them user-friendly and self-explanatory.

Resolving Startup Problems in MS Excel

If you are a regular MS Excel user, then you might have experienced some error messages while opening an Excel file. But, have you ever come across unusual behavior of MS Excel at the startup?? If not, then you might be shocked to know that sometimes, Excel can be problematic at the startup, after which you may encounter an error message. As a result, any of the Excel file can get corrupt and the data stored in that particular file becomes inaccessible. In order to access your data, you need to use an updated backup file to restore the data. But, in case of unavailability of backup, you need to go for excel file repair to retrieve your data from the corrupted Excel files.

As a regular MS Excel user, any unusual behavior of the application causing corruption of your files can put you on backfoot as you may be on the verge of losing your precious data. In such cases, excel recovery becomes essential. But, before explaining the solution, let us talk about the kind of problems that you may encounter at MS Excel startup:

  • Conflicting or problematic file in Excel startup folder or alternate startup file location.
  • Corrupted Excel toolbar file.
  • Corruption in the registry keys.
  • Corrupted shortcut to the Excel program.
  • Corrupted add-ins under the Tools menu.

When you come across any of the above mentioned symptoms, then there is a possibility of Excel file or files corruption. At this point, you need to find an appropriate solution to repair the damaged or corrupted Excel files.

Resolution:

When an Excel file gets corrupted, then the only way though which your data can be retrieved is by using a powerful third-party application known as excel repair software. These are advanced applications that are designed specifically to resolve all the corruption issues in MS Excel. These tools effectively repair the corrupted or damaged Excel file by incorporating sophisticated scanning mechanisms. Furthermore, these applications are embedded with highly interactive graphical user interface that makes them user friendly and self explanatory. So, you do not require any prior technical skills.

Workbook corruption due to “Unexpected Error (35012)”

A workbook is a MS Excel file , which can hold many worksheets altogether. It is a spreadsheet application in which you can enter, store and manipulate data. It is used to perform tedious calculations, analyze information and manage huge lists in spreadsheet. At times, however, you fail to open the workbook to access your vital data. This generally happens due to the presence of Visual Basic modules in the workbook which may cause Excel file corruption. To access the contents of the workbook, you can use a valid data backup file, if available. In case of unavailability of the backup, you need to excel file repair to retrieve your inaccessible data.

Consider a practical situations – Sometimes, when you attempt to open a workbook( that has macros) , which contains Visual Basic for Applications modules, the following error message may appear on the system screen:

“Unexpected Error (35012)”

After this error message, a Disable Macros dialog box may appear, but the problem remains intact even after disabling the macros. Further, when you click OK in the error message, the workbook closes but Excel remains opened.

Cause:

You come across the above error message when the workbook is corrupted or damaged, regardless of the macro code being present in the file. Corruption in the workbook file may occur due to virus infected macros , improper system shutdown, application malfunction, etc.

Resolution:

Consider the measures given below to resolve the issues:

  • Try to re-open the file in Excel and set the calculation option to Manual.
  • Try opening the Excel file in MS Word. However, even if the file opens, you may not be able to recover macros sheets, charts, cell formulas, embedded charts, and more. In such a situation, it is recommended to use a third-party application to repair excel file. An effective excel repair software will enable you to retrieve and restore the data from the corrupted workbook file. These are advanced applications that employ high-end scanning mechanisms to quickly scan and repair the Excel file. Embedded with rich graphical user interface, these tools are easy to use and understand without any prior technical skills.

Dealing with “File error: data may have been lost” Excel Error Message

Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet application that is used to enter, store and manipulate data in tables, rows and columns. The application allows you to perform calculations, statistical analysis,etc. But, at times, some error messages are often encountered by Excel users while opening an Excel file. These error messages occur after the corruption of Excel file. This causes inaccessibility of the data stored in the Excel file, which may further result in severe loss of data in your work area. But, your data can still be recovered in the availability of a healthy data backup file. However, if the backup is not present, or the backup also gets corrupted, then you can use excel repair solutions to repair your corrupt Excel files.

For instance – Sometimes, when you try to open a MS Excel file, you may encounter an error message similar to the following:

“File error: data may have been lost”

This error message generates the possibility of data loss.

Cause:

Possible causes for the above mentioned error message are:

  • The error message generally appears if the file is created in the older version of Excel, while you are opening it in a newer version.
  • Another reason could be corruption or damage of Excel file.

Resolution:

Consider the measures given below to resolve the problem:

  • Try to open the file in the same version in which you have created the file.  But, if the file does not open, then it might be corrupt. Perform a manual workaround to resolve the problem by following any of the measures given below:

1.Try to repair and open the file using Open and Repair feature.
2.Convert the file in XML or HTML format and then convert it back to normal file format.
3.In case, the file is using a chart linked to the affected file, then you can use a macro to extract the data.

However, if the problem still persists, then you are required to use a powerful excel file repair software to repair the corrupted Excel file. These excel recovery applications completely repair the Excel file by employing highly sophisticated scanning algorithms. With their interactive graphical user interface, these are easy-to-use tools that do not require any prior technical understanding or skills.

Rectifying “File error: data may have been lost” Error in Excel

Microsoft Excel is a popular and useful spreadsheet application, which comes bundled with Microsoft Office. It offers advanced features such as graphing tools, macro programming, pivot tables, charts, formulas and mathematical calculations. MS Excel is used by all fields of users including professionals and general home users. But in some situations, you might encounter a number of errors while trying to open Excel spreadsheet and accessing data from it. One of the major causes of such issues is Excel file corruption and you need to restore them from back. But in case if the backup is not available, you are required to opt for Excel Recovery solutions to retrieve corrupt or inaccessible data from Excel spreadsheet.

In a practical scenario, when you try to open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, the process does not complete and you come across below given error message:

“File error: data may have been lost”

This behavior of Microsoft Excel renders all of your mission critical data inaccessible and cause data loss situations. At this point, you need to find out the cause of this issue and carry out xls repair by resolving it.

Root of the problem

You might come across this situation, if any of the following conditions is true:

  • The spreadsheet has created in the earlier version of Microsoft Excel and now you are attempting to open this file in later version. By data loss in error message, it means that the file objects are lost (such as images, charts, drawings, text, formulas etc.) that might not be usable in later versions.
  • The particular Excel spreadsheet is severely damaged and Microsoft Excel application is not able to read data from it and retrieve it.
  • In order to sort out these issues, you should go through below steps:
  • Try to open the file in same version of MS Excel in which it was created.
  • If the problem persists, the file may be corrupt. Repair and restore it using third party Excel Recovery software.

These applications are capable of methodically scanning the corrupt Excel file and extracting all of its damaged or inaccessible objects. The excel repair tools are quite easy to use and do not demand sound technical skills. With read-only and non-destructive conduct, these tools are completely safe to use.

Excel Recovery is the most efficient and advanced solution for all Excel corruption scearios. It supports recovery from Microsoft Excel 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. This software is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista, 2003, XP, 2000 and NT.