Why doesn't the Excel file open. Why won't the Excel file open? Compatibility issue

Many Microsoft Office users face problems opening and saving files. Today we will talk about why the Excel file does not open and how you can fix it. The cause can be anything from a damaged workbook to an operating system crash. Let's break it down in order.

Compatibility issue

If you're trying to open a document and the program gives you an error, try opening it in a later version of Office. The fact is that since 2007, a new xsls format has been added - extended. And Excel released before that time just won't open the workbook. Take a close look at the file extension and the version of your office suite. They may not be compatible.

To remedy this situation, you need to save the book in an older format. Open the document in the program where you created it. If someone has transferred the file from the outside, find a computer with the new version or ask to be re-stored for you. If you have to solve the problem yourself, click the main menu icon in the upper left corner and select "Save As". At the bottom of the window, you will see the File Type field. Select "Excel 97-2003 Workbook" in it. Next, you can open this file in any version of Office.

The best option is to install the latest version of Microsoft Office. All old formats are supported in every next release.

Settings

Quite often you can see the message "Error sending command to application". In this case, when you open the Excel file, a blank window opens. This is not critical, you can open it through the corresponding item in the main menu or simply double-clicking again on the document in the folder. You can open Excel and drag a workbook onto it from Explorer. But if you often work with documents, then this error will be unpleasant to pester, taking up time.

To get rid of the warning, do the following:

Mapping error

The operating system is configured to "memorize" programs for opening different types of files. This is called "matching". When you try to open a file with an unknown extension, you must indicate which program to use. Information about this is recorded.
If at some point the mapping for Excel workbooks has been knocked down, the OS simply will not understand in which program they should be opened. To remedy the situation, do the following:

Add-on problem

Excel has many add-ins that significantly expand the capabilities of the program. They can be disabled as unnecessary and enabled as needed. Sometimes extensions conflict with each other. In this case, you should disable unnecessary.
If you are having trouble opening the Excel file, disable the COM add-in. To do this, go to the options, as described above, and select the "Add-ons" section.

At the bottom, you will see a drop-down list "Control". Select the item "COM Add-ins" in it and click the "Go ..." button. A list of extensions will appear in the window. Uncheck all items.

If the document opened, then the problem was with them. Next, try to turn on each one separately and you can determine which point was the reason. If the book does not open with a double click, then the add-ons are not to blame. Put the check marks back in place.

File corruption

When writing a document to a USB flash drive or if it was saved incorrectly, the book could be damaged. In this case, try to recover. Most often, Excel displays a corresponding window asking you to click the "Restore" button. If it doesn't, follow these steps:

Open the program and click the main menu button or the "File" menu (depending on the version).
Go to the directory with the file and click on the file name in the window.
Find the word "Open" at the bottom. Click on the triangle next to it and select "Open and Restore."
Click "Restore".
If this does not help, then return to the window by repeating the above steps, and click "Extract data".
Then select "Convert formulas to values" (all formulas will disappear) or "Restore formulas".
After that, the data may be restored. Save your document.

Viruses

Sometimes malware can corrupt the mappings or the Office suite itself. In this case, run your antivirus and scan the entire hard drive. If after this Excel still does not start, then either roll back the systems to a restore point, or reinstall the program.
If you are connected to the Internet and you have licensed software, you can try to restore the application. This requires:

Right-click on the Start button and select Applications and Features.

Find Microsoft Office in the list and click the "Change" button.

Allow operations and select the "Restore" option.

This will update the application.

Non-standard files

Over time, developers increasingly complicate Office by adding new features. Accordingly, the number of extensions that must be created and opened in Excel is growing. In particular, the 2007 version introduced the XLSM format. Files of this type are a large table with support for macro elements. Need to figure out why xlsm won't open in Excel?

Old version. Update your office suite.
Account failure. Create a new account and try logging in with it.
The problem is in the registry. To call the registry, press Win and R and in the window enter regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Office \\ 12.0 and delete the last folder. Your numbers may be different - depending on the version. For example, 2007 is 12, 2010 is 14, 2013 is 14, 2016 is 16.

Another format is CSV. It was built for compatibility between Excel and data from WEB and third party applications. Sometimes a csv file in Excel opens with hieroglyphs. The problem here is the encoding. Do the following:

Multi-window mode

By default, all Excel 2007-2013 workbooks open in one window. You can change this if you are working on multiple documents at the same time. Later versions already open different windows automatically. If your Office opens a book in the same window, go to the main menu through "Start" and start another instance of the program. You will now see two shortcuts on the taskbar. So you can open them as many as you like.

Have a great day!

Failures in trying to open an Excel workbook are not so common, but nonetheless they do occur. Such problems can be caused both by damage to the document and by malfunctions in the program or even the Windows system as a whole. Let's look at the specific causes of problems with opening files, as well as find out in what ways you can fix the situation.

As in any other problematic moment, the search for a way out of the situation with problems when opening the Excel book lies in the direct cause of its occurrence. Therefore, first of all, you need to establish exactly the factors that caused the application to malfunction.

To understand if the root cause is in the file itself or in a software problem, try opening other documents in the same application. If they open, we can conclude that the root cause of the problem is damage to the book. If the user fails to open it, then the problem lies in Excel or operating system problems. You can do it differently: try to open the problem book on another device. In this case, its successful opening will indicate that everything is in order with the document, and problems need to be looked for elsewhere.

Reason 1: compatibility issues

The most common reason for failure to open an Excel workbook, unless the document itself is damaged, is a compatibility issue. It is not caused by a software breakdown, but by the use of an old version of the program to open files that were made in a newer version. At the same time, it should be noted that not every document made in the new version will have problems opening in previous applications. On the contrary, most of them will start normally. The only exceptions will be those where technologies have been introduced that older versions of Excel cannot work with. For example, early instances of this spreadsheet processor could not handle circular references. Therefore, the old application will not be able to open the book containing this element, but it will launch most of the other documents made in the new version.

In this case, there can be only two solutions to the problem: either open similar documents on other computers with updated software, or install on the problem PC one of the new versions of the Microsoft Office package instead of the outdated one.

The reverse problem when opening documents in a new program that were generated in older versions of the application is not observed. Thus, if you have the latest version of Excel installed, then there can be no compatibility issues when opening files of earlier programs.

Separately, it should be said about the xlsx format. The fact is that it has been implemented only starting with the Excel 2007 version. All previous applications cannot work with it by default, because xls is their "native" format. But in this case, the problem with launching this type of document can be solved even without updating the application. This can be done by installing a special patch from Microsoft on the old version of the program. After that, books with xlsx extension will open normally.

Reason 2: incorrect parameter setting

Sometimes the cause of problems when opening a document may be incorrect configuration of the program itself. For example, when you try to open any Excel book by double-clicking the left mouse button, a message may appear: "Error sending command to application".

This will launch the application, but the selected book will not open. At the same time through the tab "File" in the program itself, the document opens normally.

In most cases, this problem can be solved in the following way.

After completing this operation, a second attempt to open the document by double-clicking the mouse should be successful.

Reason 3: setting up mappings

The reason that you cannot open the Excel document in the standard way, that is, by double-clicking the left mouse button, may lie in the incorrect configuration of file associations. An indication of this is, for example, an attempt to launch a document in another application. But this problem can also be easily solved.

Through the menu Start go to Control Panel.

Next, we move to the section "Programs".

In the application settings window that opens, go to the item "Purpose of the program to open files of this type".

After that, a list of many types of formats will be built, to which the applications that open them are indicated. We are looking in this list for the Excel xls, xlsx, xlsb or others extensions that should open in this program, but do not open. When highlighting each of these extensions, the text Microsoft Excel should be displayed above the table. This means that the match setting is correct.

But, if, when selecting a typical Excel file, another application is indicated, then this indicates that the system is configured incorrectly. To configure the settings, click on the button "Change program" at the top right of the window.

Usually in the window the name Excel should be in the group of recommended programs. In this case, just select the name of the application and click on the button "OK".

But, if due to some circumstances it was not in the list, then in this case click on the button "Overview…".

After that, an explorer window opens, in which you must specify the path to the direct main file of the Excel program. It is located in a folder at the following address:
C: \\ Program Files \\ Microsoft Office \\ Office #

Instead of the "No." symbol, you must specify the number of your Microsoft Office package. The correspondences between Excel versions and Office numbers are as follows:
- Excel 2007 - 12;
- Excel 2010 - 14;
- Excel 2013 - 15;
- Excel 2016 - 16.
Once you have navigated to the appropriate folder, select the file EXCEL.EXE (if the display of extensions is not enabled, then it will be called simply EXCEL). Click on the button "Open".

After that, there is a return to the program selection window, where you must select the name Microsoft Excel and press the button "OK".

Then the application will be reassigned to open the selected file type. If several Excel extensions have the wrong purpose, then you will have to do the above procedure for each of them separately. After there are no incorrect mappings left, in order to finish working with this window, click on the button "Close".

After that, Excel workbooks should open correctly.

Reason 4: incorrect work of add-ins

One of the reasons why the Excel workbook does not start may be incorrect work of add-ins that conflict either with each other or with the system. In this case, the way out is to disable the incorrect add-in.

Reason 5: hardware acceleration

Problems opening files in Excel can occur when hardware acceleration is enabled. Although this factor is not necessarily an obstacle to opening documents. Therefore, first of all, you need to check whether it is the cause or not.

Reason 6: book damage

As mentioned earlier, the document may not open also because it is damaged. This may be evidenced by the fact that other books in the same instance of the program run normally. If you could not open this file on another device, then we can say with confidence that the reason is in itself. In this case, you can try to recover the data.

There are other options for recovering data from damaged books. They are discussed in a separate topic.

Reason 7: Excel corruption

Another reason why the program cannot open files may be damage to it. In this case, you need to try to restore it. The following recovery method is only suitable if you have a stable internet connection.

If you do not have an Internet connection or for some other reason you cannot use this method, then in this case you will have to restore using the installation disk.

Reason 8: system problems

The reason for the inability to open the Excel file can sometimes be complex malfunctions in the operating system. In this case, you need to perform a number of steps to restore the health of the Windows OS as a whole.

As you can see, the problem with opening Excel books can be caused by completely different reasons. They can lie in file corruption, incorrect settings, or in the program itself. In some cases, operating system problems may also be the cause. Therefore, it is very important to determine the root cause to restore full performance.

Among Microsoft Office users, it is not uncommon for a file to not open in Excel. There can be many reasons for this - from problems with the file itself, to problems with the program and the operating system. The main reasons are presented below.

Compatibility issue

Relevant for those who still use the old MS Office 2003 package, which supports the now obsolete * .xls files. Starting with MS Office 2007, a new, more advanced file format for Excel workbooks - * .xlsx was introduced.

Users of more modern office suites like MS Office 2013 or 2016 have nothing to worry about. These versions open both * .xlsx and * .xls files without any problems, they are also more stable in work than their predecessors.

If you need to open the "new" * .xlsx in the old Excel 2003, you can solve this by re-saving this file in the * .xls format or by installing a special program that will allow old packages to open new file formats.

DDE parameters

Double clicking on the * .xls file opens Excel with a blank window and the message: "Error sending command to application." When you click on the same file again or open it through the "Open" mode, it opens.

This is not an error or a problem and is configurable by checking the appropriate box and will be very annoying when you have to open files frequently.

To disable this function, go to: "File" - "Excel Options" - "Advanced", find in the window the item "Ignore DDE requests from other applications" and uncheck the box.

Lack of matching

Another option why the Excel file won't open is mapping.

When installing an office suite, Windows understands this and automatically selects MS Excel to open the corresponding files. However, in rare cases, something can go wrong and the operating system will have to manually show which program to open the required file.

The easiest way to set the default program for a file is from the file itself. To do this, you need to do the following:

Right-click on this file.
Highlight the "Open with" item, click "Choose another application".
In the window that appears, select "Excel" from the list, check the box below and click OK.

If there is no Excel in the list that appears, specify the path to it manually: C: \\ ProgramFiles \\ MicrosoftOffice \\ Office16 \\ Excel.exe by selecting the very bottom line of the window that appears.

For each new file, you need to do the following. But once, after adding a mapping for Excel, it appears in the list of applications, and you no longer need to manually specify the path.

Add-ons

Also, one of the options due to which the file does not open in Excel may be a conflict of plugins - add-ins. They are designed to expand the basic capabilities and are practically not needed by ordinary users.

However, they can conflict with each other and interfere with Excel. In this case, you should disable them and make sure that they are the reason why Excel does not open the file. To do this, go to: "File" - "Excel Options" - "Add-ins". At the bottom there will be a drop-down list "Control". Put "COM Add-ins" in it and click "Go". In the window that appears, uncheck all the boxes, save the changes.

If the problem is resolved and the add-ins are needed, you can enable them separately until you find the one that is broken.

File corruption

If the file is damaged, opening it usually prompts you to recover. You can also do this manually: "File" - "Open" - specify the location of the file and, instead of the usual opening, press the down arrow and select "Open and Restore".

If Excel still does not open the file, you can try to play around with the recovery points available there. If you can extract something, save it to a separate file each time, since it is easier to match than to create it anew!

Rollback and reinstall

If Excel files take a long time to open and there are no obvious reasons for this, the program may have been corrupted by viruses. In this case, you can rollback through the official server or reinstall Excel.

To do this, right-click on the "Start" menu and select "Programs and Features". Find Microsoft Office and click "Change" to rollback, then "Restore". To reinstall, click "Delete"

Finally

We hope this article helped you solve your problem. If the above methods did not help you, then the reason may be hidden by your operating system, or even in the very stuffing of the computer. In this case, we strongly recommend that you contact Microsoft support, where specialists will certainly help you solve the problem.

New Exel 2010 writes that the file is damaged and does not open xls! How to be and what to do? Microsoft Office Exel 2010 Version 14.0.6123.5001 Although I absolutely know that the file is normal - after all, Open Office - opens it. It so happens that a file is created automatically by a script - and Exel writes that: What to do in this case? As a user, I should grab my head or still figure out what is the reason for the embarrassment. It is known that quite a few viruses have been written for Microsoft Office, including support for the built-in vb-scritp simplifying procedure. And for this, in the new "Office", the developers set the checkboxes, or rather unchecked the supportwhat they think is "old" files. And we - turn it back on - all the old support. To do this, go to: File - Options - Settings - Trust Center - Trust Center Settings and then look at the pictures, how it looks in action:

Well, first of all - we allow opening the so-called "unknown" files from the network. Anyone else - but I do not understand! Those. we cancel the work with the security certificate - and we allow everything. Or if you have a company - we buy a certificate of thousands for 100 rubles and put it in a folder on a network resource - where the xls files should be located (i.e. where we download from) Or we simply remove the dot. Now photo number 3. Check the boxes here - support all xls formats... And including 97 years. It's about “opening files” this column. Yes, and I also advise you to experiment with the security settings in these tabs! Something is allowed, but something "critical" is not. (For example, running scripts or opening a file through OpenOffice) That's all. Click OK! And open the file again - xls has opened , but the top is now dominated by the firewall inscription: Changing files of this type is prohibited by security policy... Here is what Microsoft writes about this jamb, about which for some reason no one knows until now:

Why does the file open in Protected View?

Protected View is a read-only mode in which most editing features are disabled. There are several reasons why the file opens in Protected View.

The file was opened from an Internet location. This file was downloaded from the Internet and may not be secure. Click for more information., this is due to the fact that the file being opened was obtained from the Internet. These files may contain viruses and other harmful content. You should open a document for editing only if you trust its content. The figure below shows an example.

The received file is an Outlook 2010 attachment, and the sender of the message is considered untrusted by the policy set on the computer. When Protected View displays the message This file was originally received as an email attachment and may not be secure. Click for more information. , this is because the file was received from a potentially insecure sender. The figure below shows an example.

The file was opened from an unsafe location. If the message is displayed in Protected View This file is open from a potentially unsafe location. Click here for details., the file was opened from a folder deemed unsafe. An example of an unsafe location is the Temporary Internet Files folder. The figure below shows an example.

The file is locked by the file lock function. The illustrations below show examples.

Editing is prohibited.

Editing is allowed.

An error occurred while checking the file. If Protected View displays the message Found a problem with this file. Editing can damage your computer. Click for more information. , this is because the file did not pass validation. The figure below shows an example.

Note. For more information on file validation errors, see File problem.

The file is opened in Protected View using the parameter. If the message is displayed in Protected View This file was opened in Protected View. Click for more information., this is because the file was opened with the command Open in Protected View... To use this command, follow these steps:
1. Open the tab File.
2. AT microsoft Office Backstage view press the button Open.
3. In the dialog box Opening a document click arrow on the button Open.
4. Select the command from the list Open in Protected View.

The figure below shows Protected View mode invoked with the command Open in Protected View.

Important. Administrators can expand the list of potentially unsafe locations to include additional folders that are also considered unsafe. (On the site, let's say it will be a security certificate worth a lot of money)

According to Microsoft Office Developers:

A file problem has been encountered in a Microsoft Office 2010 application that may be security risk... To protect your computer, open the file in protected View... It is recommended to open it for editing only if its sender is trustworthy and the file itself does not seem suspicious.

Reasons for this message

This message can be displayed for a malicious file that was created by an intruder to infect the computer with a virus or steal important data. It means that it can be dangerous to edit this file. Sometimes this message is displayed for damaged files, for example in the following cases:

the disk on which the file is stored is faulty;
the file was created or edited using a program with which there are some problems;
an unexpected error occurred while copying a file to your computer, which could be caused by a problem with your Internet connection.
there was a problem with the package file troubleshooting algorithm Office 2010; we're trying to make it better, but it's not perfect. ( Of course of course 🙂)

I wrote how you can fix all these situations in action - so that the file still opens, if you have confidence in it - using a real example. (see screenshots of the program and settings)

Compatibility issue

The best option is to install the latest version of Microsoft Office. All old formats are supported in every next release.

Settings

To get rid of the warning, do the following:

Mapping error

Add-on problem

File corruption

Open the program and click the main menu button or the "File" menu (depending on the version).
Go to the directory with the file and click on the file name in the window.
Find the word "Open" at the bottom. Click on the triangle next to it and select "Open and Restore."
Click "Restore".
If this does not help, then return to the window by repeating the above steps, and click "Extract data".
Then select "Convert formulas to values" (all formulas will disappear) or "Restore formulas".
After that, the data may be restored. Save your document.

Viruses

Right-click on the Start button and select Applications and Features.

Find Microsoft Office in the list and click the "Change" button.

Allow operations and select the "Restore" option.

This will update the application.

Non-standard files

Old version. Update your office suite.
Account failure. Create a new account and try logging in with it.
The problem is in the registry. To call the registry, press Win and R and in the window enter regedit