Due to various reasons, such as software conflicts, system errors, storage issues, or accidental shutdowns, Mac users may encounter problems with corrupted Excel files. This article will detail how to repair an Excel file on Mac OS and provide tips to prevent such issues from occurring.
When You Need to Repair An Excel File
The main scenarios in which users may need to repair Excel files on Mac computers include the following:
File Open Error
When trying to open an Excel file, if the program displays the error message “Unrecognized Format”, “File Corrupted” or “File Cannot Be Opened”, it usually means that the structure or data of the file may have been damaged.
Abnormal content display
After opening the Excel document, found that part of the content is lost, garbled, wrong format, or incorrect calculation results. This situation may be due to problems during the file-saving process or compatibility issues between different versions of Excel.
Unexpected closure leads to unsaved
During the editing process, due to a system crash, power failure or accidental closure of the Excel application, resulting in a possible data loss of the Excel file being edited and not saved.
Virus infection or malware damage
A computer attacked by a virus, malware or other form of attack may directly tamper with or indirectly corrupt the content and structure of the Excel file.
Hard disk drive failure or hardware problems
Physical damage or logical errors in the hard disk drive where the Excel file is stored may cause the file to become partially or completely unreadable.
Synchronization conflicts or network outages
While synchronizing Excel files in a cloud storage service (e.g., OneDrive, iCloud Drive), a network outage or synchronization conflict results in file corruption.
Permission or file-locking issues
Improperly setting file permissions or locking by other programs prevents Excel from accessing and processing files properly, thus exhibiting file corruption.
For all the above scenarios, you can try the four measures provided below for how to repair an Excel file on Mac to solve the problem.
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Fix 1: How to Repair An Excel File on Mac with Open and Repair
The first method of how to repair an Excel file on Mac is to use Excel’s built-in Open and Repair Function:
- Open your Microsoft Excel application.
- Click on the “File” menu and select the “Open” option.
- Browse to the corrupted Excel file, select it, and instead of clicking “Open” directly, click on the arrow icon in the bottom right corner and select “Open and Repair” (“Open and Repair”).
- Excel will try to detect and automatically fix potential errors in the file.
Fix 2: Save as Web Page (.htm) on Mac
If the above method does not work, try to open the corrupted Excel file and select File > Save As Web Page.
Excel will save the file content in HTML format, and then you can re-import the HTML file back to Excel to see if it can be parsed and displayed correctly.
Fix 3: Save the Excel File as XML Spreadsheet
- Open the problematic Excel file and choose “File” > “Save As”.
- In the “File Type” in the “XML Workbook” (“.xml” or “.xlsxml”), so that the data can be converted into a readable XML format.
- Open the XML file in Excel again to see if the original data has been successfully recovered.
Fix 4: Recover Corrupt Excel Files Using Time Machine
If you have the Time Machine backup feature enabled on your Mac, you can restore the undamaged version from the backup:
- Connect the Time Machine backup drive to your Mac computer.
- Open the Time Machine interface (usually searched via Spotlight or launched from the Dock).
- Find the point in time in the timeline that contains the undamaged Excel file, and then restore the file from it to the original location or a new safe location.
Tips to Prevent MS Excel File Corruption on Mac
Backup important files regularly, especially work in progress. Use a stable power supply at the office location or at home to avoid sudden power cuts that can cause file corruption.
Further, there is a need to update the operating system and Office suite to the latest version to get the latest stability improvements and bug fixes.
At work, prevent malware infections by regularly scanning for viruses and keeping your antivirus software up to date.
Finally, care needs to be taken to avoid editing the same Excel file by multiple users or processes at the same time to avoid conflicts.
Conclusion
There is no need to panic when there are problems with Excel files on Mac, first try the various strategies listed above on how to repair an Excel file on Mac. Meanwhile, good data management habits such as regular backups, timely software updates and avoiding operating sensitive files in unstable environments can effectively reduce the risk of Excel file corruption. Even if you experience file corruption, it is possible to retrieve your precious data through reasonable methods.