Repair a Corrupted Word or Excel File in Microsoft 365
Source-checked · About 10 minutes
Answer
Make a copy, then in the desktop Word or Excel app choose File > Open > Browse, select the copied Office file, open the arrow beside Open, and choose Open and Repair. Save recovered content under a new name and compare it with the original or a backup. This workflow does not repair a damaged PDF; Adobe says a corrupt PDF cannot be directly repaired.
1
Make a local copy
In File Explorer, copy the DOC, DOCX, XLS, or XLSX file to a local folder and keep the original untouched. If it came from a network location or USB drive, perform every recovery attempt on the local copy.
2
Open the desktop Office app
Open desktop Word for a document or desktop Excel for a workbook, then choose File > Open > Browse. Do not choose the file from Recent because that does not open the required file dialog.
3
Choose Open and Repair
In the Open dialog, select the copied file once without opening it. Open the arrow beside the Open button, choose Open and Repair, and wait for the app to assess the file.
4
Recover the Office content
Choose Repair to recover as much content as possible. In Excel only, if Repair fails, repeat the path and choose Extract Data to recover values and formulas; formatting and other features may be lost.
5
Save and inspect the recovered copy
Check the recovered pages, sheets, and formulas, then choose File > Save As and use a new filename. Reopen that file and compare it with the original or a trusted backup before replacing or sharing anything.
6
Use the PDF recovery path
For a PDF, first save a local copy and try it in a current Acrobat or Reader installation. If the PDF itself is corrupt, recreate it from the source file or obtain a fresh copy or backup; Help > Repair Installation repairs Acrobat, not the damaged PDF.
Video walkthrough
If it does not work
If Open and Repair is absent, confirm that you are using the desktop Office app and File > Open > Browse, not Recent, Microsoft 365 for the web, or a mobile app.
If Excel starts File Recovery automatically, let it finish before trying the manual Open and Repair path.
If this local copy fails but other files open normally, keep the recovery file-specific. If several healthy files also fail, repair the Office or PDF app separately.
Do not upload confidential, financial, work, or personal files to generic online repair services. Keep every recovery attempt on a copy.
ⓘ Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Windows.
Follow the linked first-party guidance if labels differ after a platform or app update.
