Excel files won't open since I've upgraded to Excel 2016 (says they are corrupt)

Anonymous
2015-11-10T16:31:14+00:00

I recently upgraded to Excel 2016.  I use the Office Personal 365 subscription.

My files now won't open.  They show as corrupt.  It tries to open in "protected" mode, but it stops working before anything happens.  I didn't have issues before upgrading.

Hopefully this is an easy fix, but I can't seem to find a solution online.  Any assistance would be very much appreciated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-05-12T23:48:37+00:00

Bert, I'm sorry that the Quick Repair didn't work for you. Here is a more detailed reply addressing all of the different permutations of issues I have seen. Hopefully something in the list will help you. If not, please let me know.

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for providing information and helping us to identify all of the different problems. Unfortunately, there is no one single cause to files not opening correctly when double clicked and there are even a few different experiences that often get grouped together as "The file didn't open". Specifically, we see the following behaviors most often:

  1. After double clicking a file to open it, Excel opens with a grey background, but the file never opens. Additionally, a message about "There was a problem sending the command to the program" may appear.
  2. Double clicking a file doesn't even open Excel, and/or the icons on the Desktop and in File Explorer don't appear to be associated with Excel.
  3. Double clicking the file opens Excel, but an error appears saying the file is corrupted or opens in Protected View, preventing edits.

Here are the proposed solutions/workarounds for each of the above problems:

Potential solutions to Problem 1 "App opens, but file doesn't"

  1. Ensure that the DDE option is unchecked. The option can be found in File -> Options -> Advanced -> "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)"
  2. Disable all third party apps that interact with Excel. We have found some occurrences of third party add-in or applications that intercept commands from Windows to Excel, preventing Excel from opening the file. Specifically, we have seen security, encryption and two-factor authentication add-in prevent files from opening. Add-ins can be disabled by unchecking all boxes in File > Options > Add-ins > COM Add-ins (in dropdown at bottom of screen) > Go… > Uncheck all boxes > Click OK. Unfortunately, there is no way to manage Third Party applications that interact with Excel, so you would need to find those manually in Task Manager Processes and stop any that you think could interfere (CTRL+ALT+DELETE > Task Manager > Processes).
  3. Unhide windows. If all of the windows on a workbook are hidden, it will appear that the file didn’t open. You can unhide windows by clicking the "Unhide" button in the Window section of the View tab in the ribbon.
  4. Update registry entries for DDE. It is possible that through installation of add-ins, upgrades or other means, the registry values that control DDE can be changed. We recommend using Quick Repair or Full Repair  to restore registry values, rather than changing them manually. You can access repair from Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Right click Microsoft Office 365 [or whichever version you have installed] > Change > Quick Repair.
  5. As a workaround, you can open the Excel app and then try and open the file again (either from within the app or by double clicking on the file again). This will bypass most of the problems associated with DDE, allowing you to open files.

Potential solutions to Problem 2 "Excel files aren't associated with the Excel application"

  1. Run a Quick Repair. The most likely cause here is a Windows upgrade, Office upgrade or installation of a different document management suite caused the Office files to no longer be associated with the Office applications on your computer. You can access repair from Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Right click Microsoft Office 365 [or whichever version you have installed] > Change > Quick Repair.

Potential solutions to Problem 3 "Corruption message or Protected View Message"

  1. When opening the file, let Excel repair the corruption. This happens automatically when Excel detects the file is corrupted. It attempts to repair as much as possible.
  2. The file opens in Protected View. If it is from an untrusted location (email attachments and web locations are generally considered untrusted), then this is expected behavior and was designed that way to protect from accidently opening files that contain malicious content.

Lastly, if you are experiencing the first problem and none of the solutions resolve the issue, please let me know and I can work with you individually to determine what is happening and hopefully find a resolution.

Thanks,

Micah

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-08T06:22:08+00:00

    Micah

    I have the same issue with #1 with error message.  I run a quick fix and didn't work.  Plesae help.  

    Paul

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-04T12:28:01+00:00

    This helped me.

    1. Go to the folder.
    2. Right-click on file name.
    3. Choose Properties.
    4. In the Security at the bottom of the pop-up, click on the Unblock button.
    5. Click the Apply button.
    6. Click OK.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-03T20:35:13+00:00

    Hi Micah, 

    I had the same problem and the only fix was to follow the steps below, but now I'm wondering if my computer is at risk because I disabled all of the protections. Any guidance would be appreciated. 

    Robin Gilliland

    File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View > Uncheck all options

    File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > File Block Settings > Uncheck all options.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-29T17:57:20+00:00

    @Bp45 and Paul, you will be contacted shortly by a moderator asking for your email address and then I will email you directly to troubleshoot with you.

    @LENBOSGOED Our intention is to determine the cause of the issue and then release an update with the fix. Unfortunately, as you can see from the troubleshooting steps, it not as simple as one problem with one simple solution. In our investigations we have found no less than 5 different causes. We have actually already released fixes to 2 of them and 2 others were settings that can be configured by the user. As I mentioned before, we are still investigating the cause of the last one, so we are doing our best to get to the bottom of it and resolve it, but unfortunately the problem seems to be related to install configurations and/or a complex interaction between Office and Windows, that we have not been able to replicate, so for us to identify what is going wrong we actually need to speak directly with customers one on one and look at error logs.

    @Ron For most people the issue is not with a specific file, but rather with all files opened from Explorer rather than from within the application. We have been contacting customers individually and identifying exactly what is wrong with the Office install if they are only experiencing the problem for a single file then that does involve troubleshooting the file itself. You can see in my response to LENBOSGOED all of the other troubleshooting steps we have been pursuing.

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