4 Common Microsoft Excel Error Codes and How You Can Fix Them
It’s not uncommon to come across error codes while using Microsoft Excel. The errors may arise due to various reasons, but you need to know how to tackle them and continue with your work. The following are the most common error codes on Microsoft Excel, along with tips on how to fix them.
- Excel cannot open your desired file
Do you often see an error message saying, “Sorry, we couldn’t find XYZ.xlsx. Is it possible it was moved, renamed, or deleted?” This happens when you are trying to open a damaged or corrupt file. Additionally, you may also get this message if you want to open a file that’s already moved from its original location. Sometimes the file extension may be invalid too.
The best way to fix this issue is to searching the file manually and opening it from the location you remember last saving it. Double-click on the file when you get it but don’t open it directly using Excel or the files listed in the saved folder in Excel.
- File cannot be opened because it is corrupt
File corruption error is very common in Microsoft Excel. If you see this type of error, then it’s possibly because of the file. Microsoft Excel usually tries to resolve this issue automatically. It will try to repair the workbook while asking you to wait for a few seconds. But if it can’t fix the file, you need to repair it manually.
For this, you should click on File and then go to Open. Click on Browse and search the location of the folder where you last saved the workbook. Once you find it, click on the Open button and go to Open and Repair. This should help to recover the data. If even this step doesn’t work, you can click on Extract Data to collect the formulas and values from your workbook.
- Document caused a severe error
Older versions of Microsoft Excel often come up with this error. It says, “This document caused a serious error the last time it was opened.” This happens when your workbook gets included in the list of disabled files in Microsoft Office. To fix this, click on File and go to Options. Then go to Add-ins. Find the Manage list and click on COM Add-ins. Clear the checkbox for all the add-ins selected in this list. Click on OK and restart Excel. That should resolve the problem and open your file without any error message.
- Error while sending commands
If you see a message saying, “An error occurred when sending commands to the program.” it means there is something wrong with the command processing system of Excel. This issue only takes place in the older versions of Excel and is easily fixable. Select File and then go to Options. Click on Advanced and click on General. Uncheck the box that says Ignore Other Applications that Use Dynamic Data Exchange. Click OK and restart Excel.
Now that you know the different ways to fix various error codes on Excel, it shouldn’t be difficult to access broken files anymore. If you’d like to learn more about remote Excel training, visit excelhelp.com