Excel cannot open the file because file format or file extension is not valid

Last Updated: March 25, 2020

ISSUE

You may receive an unexpected prompt to Grant Access to files when you try to open a file or do «Save as…» or «Save a copy». When this happens, Excel may become unresponsive and you will need to force quit the application to recover.

STATUS: FIXED

This issue has been fixed with version 16.34. Please update to this version or newer to address this issue. For help installing the latest Office updates, please visit Install Office updates.

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See Also

Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Excel for Windows

Despite the increasing challenges from competitors like Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel remains the most used spreadsheet app. It’s the app of choice in most workplace settings. What’s more, it includes numerous tools that help streamline and ease workflows.

Excel, like every other Microsoft app, occasionally runs into issues. Most of these are mere annoyances and can be solved with one or two program or system reboots. However, the “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or extension is not valid” issue has proved to be more bothersome for several users.

If you encounter this message when you try to open a file in Excel (or an Excel file), this guide will be helpful. We explain the possible reasons why the error can occur and three solutions that could work for you.

Excel Cannot Open the File Because the File Format or File Extension Is not Valid

When any user encounters this error in Excel, it’s usually due to one of two reasons:

• The file is corrupted.
• The file extension isn’t supported.

A corrupted file is unlikely to be opened by the parent program. Even if it successfully opens, it’s likely to have multiple errors such as missing data or unreadable portions. Excel and several other programs go the extra mile and simply don’t open corrupted files. It’s up to the user to try and fix the file corruption first or use another document with uncorrupted data.

Sometimes, the corruption is caused by malware that infiltrated the system. This can happen if your system isn’t fully protected when working with Spreadsheets on the web. Unrelated internet activity can cause this as well. After all, some malware types are known to be distributed as macros that can attach to Office documents.

It is better to be prepared for anything. Auslogics Anti-Malware will protect you against online and offline threats, as your main or supplementary antivirus. It’s unobtrusive, lightweight, fast, and frequently updated.

Sometimes, this error could be due to incompatible or unsupported file formats. Versions of Excel since 2007 use Office Open XML as the primary file format but are backward-compatible with the earlier versions of Excel files. A glance at the file extension will tell you straight away whether the program can open that file.

If the file you’re attempting to open is in one of these formats, it won’t open because it’s been corrupted. That’s because the file extension is compatible with Excel:

Excel Workbook. xlsx

Excel Macro-enabled Workbook. xlsm

Excel Binary Workbook. xlsb

Excel Macro-enabled Template. xltm

Excel Add-in. xlam

Spreadsheet. xls

Excel Template. xlt

Excel Macro. xlm

In addition, documents in these non-Excel file extensions can be opened by the program, though functionality might be reduced in some fashion:

XML. Spreadsheet 2003 or XML formatted files. xml

Lotus Spreadsheets. prn

Tab delimited/Unicode text files. txt

Comma-separated values files. csv

Data Interchange Format files. dif

Symbolic Link Format text files. slk

dBase Data Files. dbf

OpenOffice Files. ods

XML Paper Specification Files. xps

Portable Document Format files. pdf

Note that this isn’t an exhaustive list. Excel can open files with other extensions, including html.

How to Fix the “Excel Cannot Open the File Because the File Format or File Extension Is not Valid” Issue on Windows 10

Sometimes, when opening a file in Excel, the program displays this error message instead:

Microsoft Excel

Excel cannot open the file [File Name] 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.

If you encounter this error in any version of Excel since Excel 2007, three options are open to you:

1. Check the file extension and change it if needed.
2. Repair the file with Excel’s inbuilt repair tool.
3. Change group permissions for the file.

Let’s explain each option in more detail.

Solution 1. Check the File Extension

If you’re unable to open the file, it could be due to an unsupported file extension. To be frank, this is very rare nowadays since most spreadsheets use a format Excel can open. However, if you’re trying to open the document on a pre-2007 Excel program, you can have issues with certain files.

There are two scenarios here:

1. The Excel file is not opening in a legacy version of the program.
2. The file is not opening in Excel because of an unsupported format.

In both instances, the solution is the same. Open any Excel file (or just launch the program and open a blank spreadsheet) and click the File tab. Next, click Open > Browse and locate the file you’re trying to open.

Now, look under the file name field and change the file extension. If you’re trying to open an xlsx document in a legacy Excel version, change the extension to xls. If you’re trying to open a document in an unsupported or less common file format, change the extension to xlsx or xls.

Save the change and then try opening the file again. If everything is done right, the file should open now.

Solution 2. Repair the File

When you get the “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid” error, it’s likely because the spreadsheet is corrupt. If you manage to open the file anyway, there might be multiple errors and we’re sure you don’t want that. It is better to try repairing the file first and that is exactly what we’re going to do.

1. Open a blank spreadsheet in Excel.
2. Select the File tab and click Open.
3. Hit the Browse button and choose the problematic file.
4. In the file selection window, click the Open drop-down menu and select Open and Repair.

Excel will attempt to repair the file and then open it.

Solution 3. Change Group Permissions

In rare instances, the “Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid” error happened because the file has special permissions. Removing this permission will allow your Excel program to open it without issues.

Here are the steps to try:

1. Navigate to the location of the problematic file.
2. Right-click the file and select Properties.
3. When the Properties dialog box opens, switch to the Security tab.
4. In the Security tab, click the Edit button to change permissions got for the file.
5. A new Permissions dialog box will open. Locate and click the Add button.
6. Another dialog box will open labeled “Select Users or Groups”. In this box, click the Advanced button.
7. Click the Find Now button.
8. Select Everyone under the search results and then click OK.
9. Click the OK button again to return to the Permissions dialog box. You’ll notice that the Everyone group has been added to the list under “Groups or user names”.
10. Select Everyone in the “Groups or user names” section.
11. Under Permissions for Everyone, tick Allow for all the options.
12. Click Apply and then OK to confirm and save your changes.

After this, the file will no longer be restricted and you should be able to open it in Excel.

The default file format of an Excel worksheet is XLSX and whenever the user opens any file, then it is opened with the same extension. Sometimes, when the user ties to open the sheet, then an unwanted error stops the file from opening. The error does not recognize the extension of file. It says, ‘Excel cannot open the file ‘(filename)’.xlsx because the file format for the file extension is not valid.’

There is always a number associated with such errors, to find that number press “Ctrl+Shift+I” and you’ll find “101590” at the lower-right corner of this message. There could be the following reasons behind this error;

• The Excel file is corrupt or
• The Excel file is not compatible with the version of MS Excel you’re using.

There are various Excel errors and ways to fix them, and this error can also be fixed easily. In this article, we have mentioned some of the useful methods to solve this error.

1. Change the Extension of The Worksheet
   Many times, this error occurs due to the unsupported file extension of your file. So, make sure that MS Excel in your system supports the .xlsx extension. To check the support of .xlsx extension; 
   • open MS Excel and go to “File.”
   • Now, select “Export” and choose “Change File Type.”



• Check whether it is showing the option of .xlsx or not. If not, then change the extension of the file. To change the extension, go to my computer and browse “Tools.” Now, choose the “View” tab and enable “File Name Extension.”



• After enabling the “File Name Extension,” you can change the extension of any file.
2. Using “Open and Repair” Feature of MS Excel
   The “Open and Repair” feature of Excel allows you to repair the corrupted excel files. To repair a .xlsx file with this feature;
   • Open MS Excel and Go to “File” Menu.
   • Now, select the “Open” tab and click on “Browse.”
   • Choose the file which you want to open, but instead of opening the file directly, choose “Open and Repair” option from the below right side of the opened window:

From this feature, you can easily repair and open the corrupted .xlsx files.

1. Excel Repair Software
   If none of the above methods helps in solving the problem, then try using Excel Repair software. This tool can help you repair corrupt excel files and make your worksheet accessible immediately. This utility offers some great features to solve your query, such as;
   • Repairing of both .xls and .xlsx file formats.
   • No file size limitation.
   • Compatibility with all versions of Excel – including MS Excel 2016.
   • Preview of recovered files before saving.
   • Quick and easy to use.

   For better understanding, let’s have a look at the working process of this tool.

Using Excel Repair is very simple. The user-interface of this tool is specially designed keeping the usability of users in mind. Follow these steps to use the tool:

1. Download Excel recovery and launch it on your system



2. A window will appear on the screen, now “Browse” the Excel file which you want to repair with this tool and click “Repair” like this:



3. The repairing process will take a few seconds (depending on the file size). Once the file is repaired, you’ll be able to see all its content, like this:



4. You can save the file at the desired location on the computer. Just click the “Save” button and select the location where you want to save it.

This way you can easily access the data of your corrupted .xlsx file.

Final Words

“Excel cannot open the file ‘(filename)’.xlsx because the file format for file extension is not valid” is a common error that any user can face while opening a .xlsx file. With the help of the above methods, this error can easily be resolved without affecting the integrity of the file.

Watch the Complete Video to Repair Corrupt Excel Files

Are you the one facing the Excel Cannot Open the file error, because the Excel file format or file extension is not valid?

Well many Excel users like you caught complaining about this error while trying to edit or open their Excel files in Office 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019.

Here in this article, we are going to describe some very effective methods to fix Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid error easily.

Before explaining anything I want you to take a look over the error message:

“Excel cannot open the file ‘filename.xlsx’ because the file format for the file extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted and that the file extension matches the format of the file.”

Error Screenshot:

After reading the complete error message you can easily identify that either the Excel file is got corrupted or maybe the Excel file format or file extension is not valid.

So this means, Excel cannot open the file ‘(filename)’.xlsx’ error can either be resolved by solving the corruption issue or  Excel file format or file extension issue.

Best Software To Resolve Excel Cannot Open The File Issue:

As I said, this error can be fixed by resolving the corruption issue. So to resolve Excel file corruption I want to recommend you all to go with the experts recommended solution.

If you are eligible to perform manual methods to fix Excel file corruption then you can try the solution listed here: 13 Best Ways To Repair Corrupted Excel File Effectively.

But if you don’t want to follow such lengthy procedures then use the MS Excel Repair Tool to fix Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid error automatically. This tool is designed with an advanced algorithm to fix any sort of corruption, errors, damages in the Excel file, and recovers data. It can easily restore entire Excel data includes cell comments, charts, worksheet properties, and other related data. The corrupt Excel file can be restored to a new blank Excel file.

* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data.

This is a unique tool to repair multiple files at one time and restore them even without modifying original formatting. It is easy to use, even a novice user can use it.

Steps To Utilize MS Excel Repair Tool:

Why I Am Getting This Excel Cannot Open The File Error?

• The file is not compatible with the version of Excel that is used.
• If the Excel file gets corrupted
• Or else the error is often seen with the emailed Excel files – especially forwards of forwards.
• If an Excel file is being edited by multiple people running different Excel versions.

Well, these are some of the reasons due to which you encounter Excel cannot open the file ‘(filename)’.xlsx’ because the file format or extension is not valid error.

So to get rid of this Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid here follows the manual as well as the automatic solution.

How To Fix Excel Cannot Open The File Error?

1. Change The Excel Sheet File Extension:

In some cases, it is found that users are getting the error due to the unsupported file extensions of the file, so it is worth trying to alter the Excel sheet file extension. Follow the steps to do so:

Method 1:

• Verify the support of xlsx extension and then go to ‘My Computer’.
• After that browse Tools > Folder Options > File Types.
• Now, check the ‘xlsx’ extension is included there or not. If in case not, then rename the file and change ‘.xlsx’ to ‘.xls’.

Method 2:

• Launch your Excel application
• Hit the File tab from the menu.
• After that choose the Export option from the listed menu list.

• From the export section, choose the Change File Type.
• Hit Workbook (*.xlsx) option present within the Change File Type.

After completing all this, once again open your Excel application to check whether the Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid error is gone or not.

Hope this will help you to resolve the Excel Cannot open the file error but if not then make use of the second manual solution.

2. Utilize The Open And Repair Utility

You can make use of the inbuilt open and repair utility to fix Excel cannot open the file because the extension is not valid error, follow the steps to make use of it:

• First, click on “Open” in the File Menu.
• From the list, select the Excel file which is showing the Excel cannot open the file error.
• Next from the drop-down list of the “Open” tab > select “Open and Repair”

• And finally, click on the“repair” button to repair the excel file.

However, it is found that it is unable to solve the severely damaged file and errors, so in this case, make use of the automatic solution.

Conclusion:

We have tried our best to provide an ample solution to fix Excel cannot open the file .xlsx in Excel 2007 or 2013. Hope that by following the given solution you are able to fix Excel cannot open the file because the file format or file extension is not valid error and start accessing the Excel file.

That’s it!!!