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
    2016-04-01T13:35:04+00:00

    Hi Micah,

    I have this issue but am not getting Excel to open at all from explorer by file clicking. Each time I double-click an .xlsx file Windows 10 asks which app I want to use, suggesting Excel as first choice. When I click OK nothing further happens. In standard program settings Excel has 23 of it's 27 standards (it won't apply them all but .xslx and .xls are on the included list). Opening Excel first then dragging the file in is our current work-around, but is not sufficient in the long run.

    I have tried adjusting the security settings as mentioned earlier in the thread, to no avail. My installation of Office is 2016 with the Norwegian language. I uninstalled office 2007 manually prior to installing Office 2016. The licensing we use is corporate.

    Any help would be appreciated as we're migrating all our users to office 2016 during the next few weeks.

    Thank you,

    Tom

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-30T12:34:25+00:00

    You seem to have hit the nail on the head.

    I checked the Office 2016 installation before removing Office 2010. EXcel files oopened directly from links in explorer.

    The problem only arose after I uninstalled my previous desktop version of Office 2010.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-28T22:03:23+00:00

    jsteuart and Smithdbs,

    You should each be receiving a private message shortly asking for an email address. From there, I will email some advanced troubleshooting steps and if that doesn't work, I will set up a Skype meeting to gather some logs for us to analyze and determine the cause of the problem.

    Thanks,

    Micah

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-03-28T21:28:35+00:00

    Micah,

    RE: Excel 2016 - cannot "doubleclick" Excel file (in folder) to open files.  Do NOT get any Error message. Excel opens, but does not load the selected (double-clicked) file.

    Running Windows 7 with Office 2016 (updated to v16.0.6568.2036

    Regardless of the file version (xls, xlsx) the results are the same:  clicking on the file name from 'outside" the program opens Excel 2016 to worksheet page with NO worksheet open. Here's an image of the page the program stalls on:

    https://goo.gl/photos/RovFTGb8vkNCeQch7

    Can "Open" any Excel file from within Excel, but none from outside the program.  Does not matter if Excel is running or not, whether other files are open or not.  Same problem.

    Did look to see if protected view was checked and it was Not.

    Any thoughts?

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