Office 365 iOS App Corrupted Excel File

Anonymous
2023-03-18T18:37:50+00:00

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me with 2 xlsx files that have been corrupted.

I use iCloud to store my documents, I finished working on the 2 files in question on my MacBook in the morning and then later in the day successfully viewed them (not modified) on my iPhone using the Office 365 app.

When I came to open the files again, they are unable to be opened on any device using either numbers or excel. I have tried on my iPhone, MacBook and a Windows 11 PC. The error message is:

"Excel cannot open the file 'ABCDEF.xlsx' 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."

I have tried changing the file extension to xls. I've tried to open and repair the files using Excel on Windows however that hasn't worked either. I've used a couple of trial versions of recovery software and the preview shows the first sheet is there but the remaining sheets aren't which are vital to the spreadsheet.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience of this issue? I've noticed the timestamp of last saved has changed to the date and time I opened them on my phone. I'm not sure why Office365 resaved these files without me making changes or asking me.

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | iOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-30T12:10:04+00:00

    I had the same issue. corrupted excel file 66kb.

    downloaded Numbers, tried to open the file.

    gives same error message, corrupt file but then gives message about changes not synced and gets a few old versions. lets you choose which version to keep. timestamp only goes dd-mm--yy hh-mm and I had only 3 versions to restore.

    all incomplete, some very old, some workbooks lost. but at least you manage to recover something.

    then you can save the file and convert back to excel.

    at least something.

    thanks for the heads up.

    definetly some file management issue between icloud and office365.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-05T00:29:37+00:00

    It seems as though either Apple or MS or 365 has thrown us users to the wolves, neither seems to want to fix this issue. Every day I use my files (on iPad Pro) and every day I half expect an issue. I don’t even have aWindows computer any longer. It should not be this way. Though it’s always wise to keep backups, why should I have to send files to Numbers, or email some point-in-time version to myself because it might disappear. Again. My 365 subscription will need to renew in a few months and then I’ll ask myself next steps.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-20T15:20:29+00:00

    That’s just it. I was using OneDrive. Then they added the 365 app and that’s when things went sideways. I mention iCloud since I believe it’s all related somehow, but I’m not a tech, and no one from OneDrive, MS, or Apple seemingly has had no interest in fixing this. Every day I do the same thing open a file, close a file, reopen. Never change name, location, delete. Yet, they got deleted, and I never saw them in recycle till I got the late night email from an Escalation Manager from MS (only contact I ever got) saying you have 2 hours left to move them back, or they’re gone forever. That’s the only time I saw them in Recycle, that was May 12, 29 days + ~20hours after they initially disappeared.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-20T15:07:38+00:00

    I have been successfully using OneDrive on my PC, iPhone and iPad Pro while editing the same spreadsheet. It doesn't appear the O365/iCloud issue will be resolved in a timely fashion so I recommend using OneDrive.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-20T01:43:59+00:00

    I still have not heard anything from OneDrive, MS, Apple, no one. iCloud seems to be the culprit in how 365 products live on iOS platforms. Only thing I can do is mitigate risk and email files to myself, send to Numbers, keep copies offline. I will need to renew my 365 subscription at some point, decisions will need to be made. This is. Sorry state of affairs.

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