Good morning, I am attempting to open a file created in Microsoft Excel that is/was on a thumbdrive. I receive an error message stating " cannot be accessed. The file may be corrupted, located on a server that is not responding, or read-only. I am using a mac Excel 2004 version 11.5.6 This file isn't "read-only" and I haven't installed or deleted anything. Other files created using the same program open fine. I have tried rebooting my computer. I dragged a copy of the file to my desktop thinking that is was too big for the thumb drive with the same results. I have only used this thumb drive on the mac and cannot for the life of me figure out how it might have become corrupted.

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I came across this issue today. An update to the Office Compatibility Pack that was still on a computer caused the default PROGRAM for .docx and .xlsx files to be the Microsoft Open XML Converter program and make the "Default Programs" in Control Panel think that Excel and Word were actually the Microsoft Open XML Converter scholarship essay writing assistance program as well.UNINSTALLING the Office Compatibility Pack in Programs and Features and then a simple reboot fixed the issue.
Also:
1: Try to repair it manually when MS Excel does not automatically STARTS File recovery mode.
Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click OPEN.
Now select the corrupted workbook that you want to open.
Click the arrow NEXT to the Open button, and then click Open and Repair.
Choose either Repair (to recover as much of the FILE data) or Extract data (to extract values and formula when repair process is not successful).
2: Open with Open Office: Try to open your Excel file in Open Office. It is an open-source Office suite that is able to open & SAVE Microsoft Excel files.
3: Save in HTML Format: Open your Excel file and save it in HTML format. By saving the workbook in HTML format, you may be able to filter out the corrupted elements.
4: Save in SYLK Format: Open your Excel file and save it in SYLK format. By saving the workbook in SYLK format, you may be able to filter out the corrupted elements.
5: Try 3rd party software like Excel Repair Toolbox
link: https://www.repairtoolbox.com/excelrepair.html

A corrupt excel spreadsheet can be repaired by using Open and Repair technique. It is a built-in repair function that opens a corrupt excel file forcefully.
*OpenMS Excel >pressCtrl+O >locate corrupt excel spreadsheet and select it.
*Click on the arrow shown besideOpenbutton>selectOpen and Repair.
It will take just a few seconds to be completed and selected file will be opened, if possible.

Or if this doesn't work, one may take help of a third-party

For example Excel Fix Toolbox
https://www.fixtoolbox.com/excelfix.html

Hi, what is the exact error code you receive? If you can provide the exact error code or message, will narrow down troubleshoot. To get around the problem, try starting Excel in safe mode. The command is "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE /s".

To run the command:

1. Copy the above command without inverted commas.
2. Click Start and paste by pressing "Ctrl + V" and press the Enter key.

See if this open Excel. Thereafter, exit Excel and try opening Excel again in normal mode without the "/s" switch at the end.

If still having issue, suspect some of the system files may be corrupted. Run Office setup and hit Repair when prompted.

Regards,
Maha

maybe you relocated the file itself, check first if the file you are opening is still in its original location on your hard drive, if not, manually open it by double clicking, do not open it inside microsoft excel.

Something happened to your autosave add-in.
You don't specify Office version, so I must be vague: you have to find an "Add-ins" option in the Excel menu, and disable the Autosave Add-in.
If you want the autosave function, you'll have to reinstall Office.

I was sent an excel file (.xls). friends on mac and pc can both open it.

i am on mac and keep getting unable to read error. it must be something with my mac. what could it be? nobody else has this problem.

This is because 2007 excel uses a different type of file. You may follow the directions at the link below on how to save files in 2007 excel so that you can open it in 2003


http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA100141071033.aspx

If there is anything else please do message me.

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