Why does Excel keep telling me files are corrupt?
The main causes for "the file is corrupted and cannot be opened" in Microsoft Excel or Office are: The changes of settings in Microsoft Office after upgrading or reinstallation. Protection of your computer against the files come from another computer. The Excel or Word file is corrupted.
- Click File > Open > Browse and then go to the location or folder where the document (Word), workbook (Excel), or presentation (PowerPoint) is stored. ...
- Click the file you want, and then click the arrow next to Open, and click Open and Repair.
There isn't enough memory to complete this action. Try using less data or closing other applications. To increase memory availability, consider: Using a 64-bit version of Microsoft Excel.
A corrupted file is always unusable and inoperable. When facing this issue, you can first try to repair them or try to run a virus detection program. However, if they do not work, you can try a third-party file recovery tool - Recoverit Data Recovery program to help recover corrupted files in Windows.
File corruption usually happens when there is an issue during the 'save' process. If your computer crashes the file being saved will likely be corrupted. Another cause might be damaged sections of your hard drive or storage media that might have viruses and malware.
Most data corruptions occur when a file somehow flips or mixes its binary code (bits of 0s and 1s). Bits are mixed up for many reasons, including hardware problems, software-based issues, and human mistakes. Common symptoms of data corruption: A computer slows down or keeps freezing.
- Perform a check disk on the hard drive. Running this tool scans the hard drive and attempts to recover bad sectors. ...
- Use the CHKDSK command. This is the command version of the tool we looked at above. ...
- Use the SFC /scannow command. ...
- Change the file format. ...
- Use file repair software.
- Enter "cmd" in the Windows search bar.
- Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
- Enter the command "SFC /scannow" and press Enter. ( Be sure to add a space between "SFC" and "/scannow")
A data or program file that has been altered accidentally by hardware or software failure or on purpose by an attacker. Because the bits are rearranged, a corrupted file is either unreadable to the hardware or, if readable, indecipherable to the software.
When Microsoft Excel runs out of memory, the error message appears with this message: "Not enough memory to run Microsoft Excel. Please close other applications and try again." As per the error message, try closing other background running applications that aren't necessary for your PC to run.
Why does Excel keep telling me not enough memory?
Because this is a per-instance limit, this problem may occur if you have two or three large workbooks open, or one very large workbook. If you are working with several workbooks, try to open them in separate instances of Excel.
Trying to Copy Formulas over A Large Area: If your Excel file is large or contains many features, your memory resources may just be running low. Thus, you are most likely to receive these error messages when trying to copy or fill formulas into a large area on your worksheet.

If your computer loses power or crashes as you save a file, there's a good possibility that the file will become corrupted. Bad sectors on your hard drive or other storage media can also cause file corruption, even if the saving process finishes properly. Viruses and other malware can also cause file corruption.
Right-click CMD.exe and select Run as Administrator. On the User Account Control (UAC) prompt, click Yes. In the command prompt window, type SFC /scannow and press Enter . System file checker utility checks the integrity of Windows system files and repairs them if required.
- Check If Your File Is Blocked. ...
- Change Your Internet Properties. ...
- Try Editing Values in the Windows Registry. ...
- Reset Internet Explorer. ...
- Revert Your Computer to a Previous System Restore Point.
- Visit their website (https://corrupt-a-file.net/).
- Scroll down and click on "From Your Computer" just below the select the file to corrupt.
- Now, navigate to the file you want to corrupt, click on it and upload it to the website.