Excel Says "File Corrupted."
We Recover Your Data.
Health check diagnoses exactly what's wrong. Three repair modes handle everything from minor XML errors to severely damaged workbooks. Preview your recovered data before you download a single byte.
That corrupted file has happened before
Excel's Built-In Repair Fails
Open and Repair runs. Spins. Produces either the same error or a stripped-down version missing half your data. It's not designed for structural corruption.
Hours Wasted Hunting Backups
IT ticket. Email to the sender. Digging through OneDrive version history. Rebuilding from scratch. A corrupt file that should take seconds to fix takes hours to work around.
Paid Repair Tools Want Uploads
Stellar, DataNumen, online repair sites — they all require uploading your file. Financial reports. Patient records. Employee data. You were never supposed to do that.
Everything Excel's Open and Repair Can't Do
4-Stage Health Check
ZIP validation, XML parsing, relationship integrity, missing parts detection — before repair runs
3 Repair Modes
Standard (formulas preserved), Aggressive (max compatibility), Data-Only (CSV fallback for severe damage)
Preview Before Download
Sheet-by-sheet data preview with formula indicators and sample formula list before you download anything
Formula Preservation (Standard Mode)
SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, cross-sheet references, and nested formulas preserved where structurally possible
Fallback Raw XML Extraction
When SheetJS fails, a fault-tolerant XML scanner extracts cell data directly from raw bytes — recovers ~60–70% of "unrecoverable" files (internal sample, n≈200+)
Chart & Pivot Table Extraction
Chart source data and pivot table cache extracted separately — even if the chart itself is broken
Zero Upload Privacy
Repair runs entirely in your browser. Financial reports, healthcare records, HR files — nothing ever leaves your device
Repair History Dashboard
Track past repairs with filename, mode, cells recovered, and redownload capability. 30-day history, 90-day on Pro.
SplitForge vs The Alternatives
The tool that runs in your browser vs the tools that want your files on their servers
| Feature | Excel Open & Repair | Stellar Repair ($49–99 one-time) | DataNumen ($89.95 one-time) | SplitForge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formula preservation | Sometimes | Partial | Partial | Standard mode |
| Health check / diagnostics | None | None | Basic | 4-stage check |
| Preview before download | Opens directly | Limited | None | Sheet-by-sheet |
| Multiple repair modes | One mode only | 2 modes | 2 modes | 3 modes |
| Data never uploaded | Local app | Desktop app | Desktop app | Browser-only |
| No install required | Requires Office | Install required | Install required | Browser only |
| 1M+ row support | Row limit | RAM-bound | RAM-bound | 1M+ tested |
| Chart data extraction | Removes broken charts | No | No | Extracts data |
| Repair history | None | None | None | 30-day dashboard |
| Price | Requires Office | $49–99 | $89.95 | See splitforge.app |
Stellar Repair for Excel pricing: $49–99 one-time (stellarinfo.com, verified March 2026). DataNumen Excel Repair pricing: $89.95 one-time (datanumen.com, verified March 2026). Excel requires an active Microsoft 365 subscription or one-time Office license.
Which Tool Is Right for You?
No single repair tool is right for every situation. Here's an honest breakdown.
Use Excel's Open and Repair if:
- The corruption is very minor (file opens with warnings, not errors)
- You already have Office installed and the file is small
- You only need a quick first attempt before escalating
- You don't have sensitive data in the file
Use SplitForge if:
- Excel's Open and Repair already failed or produced incomplete output
- The file contains sensitive data that cannot be uploaded anywhere
- You need formula preservation, not just raw data extraction
- You want to preview the recovered data before committing
- You process corrupted files regularly and want repair history
- The file is over 100MB and desktop tools run out of memory
- You don't want to pay $49–99 for a desktop tool you'll use twice
Use Stellar / DataNumen if:
- You have both .xlsx and .xls files to repair regularly (they handle both formats better)
- Your file is extremely large (500MB+) and a desktop app handles memory better
- You need Windows-native integration with local file management
- You have a budget for a one-time desktop purchase and don't mind uploading to activate
Use professional data recovery if:
- The disk or storage device itself was damaged (not just the file)
- The file was deleted and needs forensic recovery
- The file is completely unreadable as a ZIP (health check shows "ZIP unreadable")
- The financial or legal stakes justify $300–2,000 professional recovery costs
Real-World Repair Scenarios
Finance: Corrupted Quarterly Model
Healthcare: PHI Extraction
Ops: Macro Workbook
Technical Details (For the Skeptical)
Fallback Raw XML Extraction (When SheetJS Fails)
Recovers data when standard Excel parsers give up entirely
Formula Preservation vs Conversion (Standard vs Aggressive)
How the tool decides what to keep and what to convert
Missing Core Parts (styles.xml, sharedStrings.xml)
Handles corrupt workbooks missing required XML components
Cross-Sheet Formula Recovery
Repairs inter-sheet references when multiple sheets are damaged
Memory Management for Large Corrupt Files
How the repair engine handles 100MB+ workbooks without crashing the browser
When to Use Excel Repair — And When Not To
Perfect For
- Financial models: formulas, named ranges, cross-sheet references
- Files that won't open: "file format or extension not valid" errors
- Files that open but show garbled data or missing sheets
- Healthcare and HR files that cannot be uploaded externally
- Files corrupted during OneDrive/SharePoint/email transfer
- Large workbooks (100MB+) that crash desktop repair tools
- Recovering data from old Excel files you no longer have backups for
- Quick triage before escalating to paid recovery services
- Files where you need to preview before committing to overwrite
Honest Limitations
- VBA macros not preserved — detected and documented, but not reconstructed
- .xls support is limited — binary BIFF8 format, not full structural repair like .xlsx
- ~500MB ceiling (Pro) — files larger require server-based tools or professional recovery
- Not for disk/storage corruption — file-level repair only, not block-level recovery
- External workbook links — converted to values, external files are not available for repair
- No automation or API — browser-only, cannot run on a schedule or in a pipeline
openpyxl or server-side repair scripts. For .xls files: Convert to .xlsx in LibreOffice first, then repair here.How Much Is a Corrupted File Really Costing You?
Calculate annual time lost to manual recovery vs. SplitForge
Team average: 4–10/year
Includes IT ticket + recovery attempt + rebuild
Finance/ops analyst avg: $45–75/hr
- IT tickets for "my Excel file won't open"
- Version history archaeology in OneDrive/SharePoint
- Re-requesting files from senders
- Partial rebuilds from memory or related files
- Buying $49–99 desktop repair tools for occasional use
1M Rows in 22 Seconds
Standard mode (formula preservation enabled). Chrome 132, Windows 11, Intel i7-12700K, 32GB RAM. Results vary ±15–20% by hardware, browser, and file complexity.
Mode: Standard Repair (formula preservation enabled)
Method: 10 runs, highest/lowest discarded, remaining 8 averaged
Variance: ±15–20% depending on hardware, browser, and file complexity
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my data private?
What kinds of Excel corruption can it fix?
What are the 3 repair modes?
What happens after repair?
What file size can it handle?
Can it repair .xls files (old Excel format)?
What does the health check actually do?
What about VBA macros?
Does it work if Excel says "file format or extension not valid"?
What browsers are supported?
Excel Said It Was Gone. It Wasn't.
Health check, repair, preview, download — in under 60 seconds. No uploads. No installation.
Also try: Excel Cleaner · Excel Splitter · Sheet Extractor · How to Clean Messy Excel Files · Excel Won't Open CSV? Fix It · Why Excel Formulas Break