Fix “The File You Are Trying To Open Is In Different Format …” Excel Error

MS Excel is a very popular spreadsheet used by both the large and small sectors for maintaining their crucial data. This is very important for the professional as well as personal life to manage crucial data. But there are situations seen when the excel file gets corrupted and starts displaying an error.

Here in this article, I am going to discuss commonly found the file you are trying to open is in a different format than specified by the file extension error faced by the users every time when they try to open the excel file.

It is found that users are getting the error when they try to open a file in Microsoft Excel 2007 or later that contains the content that does not match the file’s extension, then, in this case, the file you are trying to open is in a different format excel error arises.

User’s Scenario:

Let’s describe it best with the personal experience:  

I have many excel files in my PC. Recently I re-install the windows XP. After that when I tried to open excel files it always gives error “The file you are trying to open file.xls is in a different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trusted source before opening the file. Do you want to open the file now”? If click yes excel open the file in corrupted format. I have 570 excel files in the folder, most of them have corrupted.
Can someone help me how to recover it?

                                                                                                       Original Post from Microsoft Community

 

The file you are trying to open is in different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupt and is from a trusted source before opening the file. Do you want to open the file now?”

This warning message is a notification function that was added to Excel 2007. The warning message helps in preventing unexpected problems. So here check out why you are getting the error in Excel.

What Are The Causes Of “The File You Are Trying To Open Is In Different Format” Error?

  • Due to the corruption of the Excel file.
  • The file you are trying to open is not in the specified location.
  • The saved file is in a different format
  • Or the incompatibility between the actual file content or the file extension.

Well, that’s all about the file you are trying to open is in a different format than specified by the file extension error. Follow the below-mentioned solution to fix the error and recover data easily.

How To Fix File You Are Trying To Open Is In A Different Format Excel Error?

There is no exact solution that helps you to fix the error, so here check out various working solutions to fix file you are trying to open is in a different format error.

Solution 1 – Open & Repair

Very firstly it is recommended to make use of the inbuilt Open & Repair utility. Follow the process mentioned below to make use of it:

  • Click on the Office Button>Open>Select your file>Click arrow next to open button>Open & Repair

After following the above steps, a new dialogue box will appear on your computer screen which will state that “Excel can perform checks while opening the workbook and attempt to repair any corruption it detects, or extract just the data (formulas and values) from the workbook”

  • Click Repair if you want to recover as much as of your work as possible.
  • Click Extract Data if Excel was previously unable to repair the workbook.

Users can use both options in order to repair and recover the data. However, if this fails to repair the excel file, then go for the second solution.

Solution 2 – Move the File

Users can also copy and move the file to another system and check the file if it is opening or not. If still, you encounter the same error then try the “Open & Repair”  utility as already mentioned above.

Solution 3 – Restore from Backup

Users can also restore the data from backup if they have maintained the backup of the Excel file then they can easily restore the files from there. So it is always suggested you keep the recent backup of your data because this is one of the best and the easiest processes to overcome any kind of error or corruption.

If any of the above-given solutions won’t work to fix the file you are trying to open an error, then it is recommended to go for the third-party repair tool.

Alternate Solution: MS Excel Repair Tool 

Make use of the professional recommended MS Excel Repair Tool, which is designed with an advanced algorithm to repair all sorts of damages, corruption, and errors in the excel file.

It is a unique tool that can repair multiple corrupted Excel files at one time and also recover everything included charts, cell comments, worksheet properties, and other data. This can recover the corrupt Excel file to a new blank file. It is extremely easy to use and supports both Windows as well as Mac operating systems.

Try Now       Buy Now
* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data.

Steps to Utilize MS Excel Repair Tool:

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Conclusion:

Hope this article will help you to fix the file you are trying to open is in a different format than specified by the file extension Excel error. I tried my best to provide possible workarounds to fix File You Are Trying To Open Is In Different Format than Specified By the File Extension Excel error.

If you have fixed the error with the given solution then please let us know. And also if you have any other working solution then inform us by going to the comment section.

Good Luck!!!



Priyanka is a content marketing expert. She writes tech blogs and has expertise in MS Office, Excel, and other tech subjects. Her distinctive art of presenting tech information in the easy-to-understand language is very impressive. When not writing, she loves unplanned travels.