How to fix Error: "Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.xlsx”?

Ms Excel is really a very handy application which helps excel users to store, organize and manage huge amount of data. But similar to other computer files Excel files are too get corrupted and you may suffer with various errors while accessing the excel file.

Let us consider one example - "Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.xlsx' because the file format or file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file."

When you get such errors you will not be able to open or access the data stored in it. So, now the big question is how to fix the "Excel cannot open the file '(filename)'.xlsx” error. Yes of course you can fix the above error; there are few solutions that can help you out in fixing and restoring your Excel files, but before that let us know what are the main causes that are responsible for above error.

Causes

Incompatible version – The file is incompatible with excel file. May be you have created the file in Excel 2007 and trying to open it in newer version that is excel 2013.

Corruption – The excel file is corrupted. If Excel is damaged or corrupted then you may get the above error. The corruption can occur due to virus infection, abrupt system shutdown, etc.

There are other causes that the file name starts with !~ it eans that it is temp file that got stuck and it is not the original file.

Also Read: 3 ways to recover corrupt Excel workbook! 

Solutions

To fix the above error, follow the below methods:

Method 1 – Open Excel file, go to File>Open. Select the file in open window and select Tools from the bottom right and then slick on “Open and Repair”

Method 2 – Another option is Go to Desktop>My Computer>Tools>Folder Options> File types and check if you have xlsx extension there, if not available then rename the file and change from “.xlsx” to “.xls”

Method 3 – Recommended Solution – If you are unable to fix the above excel error message by following the above two methods, then it is highly recommended that you must take help of any third party program. MS Excel repair is one of the best and worldwide famous software that will help you in fixing any types of Excel error messages that occur due to corruption. It comes with advance technology that can easily repair corrupt excel file as well as it also fix most of the corruption errors and recover excel file successfully.