How To Fix File Format Is Not Valid Error?

Summary: 

This post cover easy troubleshooting tricks to fix xls file format is not valid error.

In short and precise way I can tell you that “file format is not valid” error can easily be fixed by trying easy fixes like: changing Excel file extension, or using Excel inbuilt repair tool (open and repair) etc..

But if you are getting invalid file format error because of the corruption issue then you must try the professional’s recommended Excel repair software.

Read the complete post to catch detailed information about all these fixes…!

Best Software To Fix Excel File Format Is Not Valid Error:

The most probable reason behind the occurrence of this invalid file format error is that your Excel file is somehow got corrupted.

So to troubleshoot this corruption issue you must try the professional’s recommended MS Excel Repair Tool. This is a special tool specifically designed to repair any sort of issues, corrupted, damaged, and errors in the excel files so that one can easily continue to work in that file.

It can easily restore all corrupt Excel files and also recover everything which includes cell comments, charts, worksheet properties, and other related data.

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* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data.

The corrupted Excel file can be restored to a new blank Excel file. It has the ability to recover the complete data from the file and restore them even without modifying original formatting.

Steps to Utilize MS Excel Repair Tool:

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How To Fix XLS File Format Is Not Valid Error?

Fix XLS File Format Is Not Valid Error

To figure out XLS file format is not valid error here are some best manual fixes given. Using this not only you can rectify Excel file format error messages but also regain access to your workbook.

1# Best Software To Fix Excel File Format Is Not Valid Error
2# Change Excel File Extension
3# Use Open And Repair Inbuilt Utility
4# Revert Back To Previous Versions Of Excel File
5# Restore Unsaved Excel File Using AutoRecover

Method 1# Change Excel File Extension

Firstly you need to change the file extension of your Excel sheet. Sometimes, the problem occurs due to the unsupported file extension of your Excel file.

Solution 1#

  • Open your Excel application and then tap the “File” tab.
  • Hit the “Export” option from the list of menus and select the “Change File Type” option.
  • Change files extension to some other file format that is well supported by Excel.
  • After that click on the “Save As” option to check whether your Excel file is opening or not.

Change Extension of Worksheet

Solution 2#

  • Go to My Computer > browse Tools > Folder Options > File Types.

Change Extension of Worksheet

  • Make sure that the ‘XLSX’ extension is included there or not.
  • If not then rename this file and change ‘.xlsx’ to ‘.xls’.

Change Extension of Worksheet 1

Method 2# Use Open And Repair Inbuilt Utility

If the above-given workaround won’t help you to fix invalid xls file format error, then make use of the inbuilt Open and Repair utility. 

  • Open the Excel workbook > go to File > Open option.

Open And Repair Method

  • Choose the file which you want to open but don’t make double-click on it.
  • After that go to the ‘Open’ dialog box > select ‘Open and Repair‘ option from there. This process will fix minor corruption issues that occurred in the Excel file due to which you are getting .xls file format is not valid error.

excel open and repair 1

  • Now check the error is fixed or not.

Well in some cases it is found this inbuilt utility fails to repair the severely damaged file or errors so it might happen that still the error is not fixed.  Then, in this case, you need to make use of Excel repair tool to fix the error automatically and recover data.

Method 3# Revert Back To Previous Versions Of Excel File

Using this method you can take your excel file to that version when you are not receiving any invalid xls file format error. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

Step 1. Make a right-click over the Excel file in which you are getting this file format is not valid error. After that from the pop-up menu choose the “Properties” option.

Restore Unsaved Excel Wordbook

Step 2.

Open your “Previous Version” tab for listing out the entire previously saved Excel file version.

Step 3.

Select the recent version and then tap the “Restore” button for the spreadsheets recovery.

Restore Unsaved Excel Wordbook 1

Method 4# Restore Unsaved Excel File Using AutoRecover

If due to this .xls file format is not valid error you have losted up your Excel file data then don’t get tensed. As there are few easy fixes available through which you can recover lost data in Excel.

This method is applicable only when the Excel autosave feature is turned on. It is a very helpful feature to recover unsaved Excel files.

  • Open your Excel application and tap to File > Info tab.
  • Just next to the Manage Versions, you will see the complete list of Excel file autosaved versions.

Restore Unsaved Excel File Using AutoRecover

  • Open the Excel file and at the top of the screen you will see a warning message regarding “recovered unsaved Excel file”. On which you have to tap “Restore”.

Restore Unsaved Excel File Using AutoRecover 1

  • Save your Excel file with some new names and keep the extension .xlsx.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Question)

What Does .Xls File Format Invalid Error Mean?

The file format is invalid error keeps haunting the Excel users. The appearance of this error can easily be recognized when the concerned XLS file doesn’t open. Each time when the user tries to open XLS file format, they will get a dialog box pop-up branding “.XLS file format is invalid” error.

This clearly indicates that the concerned Excel XLS file extension is not recognized by the software and therefore it is declared invalid. It is very irritating and the recovery of the original file format is almost impossible.

Well, this error is not limited to earlier Excel versions the Excel 2016 users are also encountering “XLS file format is not valid Excel 2016 error”.

What Are The Causes Of Excel File Format Is Not Valid Error?

Well the invalid xls file format error is faced by the users when:

  • The file is not compatible with the version of Excel you are using.
  • Or in the case when the file got corrupted.

Conclusion:

Hope in this article you get the complete answer to your query related to the “.XLS file format is invalid” error. Here we have tried our best to provide a reliable solution to fix the error. If the manual solution won’t work to fix xls file format is not valid error then go with the software solution.

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.