Repair A Corrupted Workbook

Office installations include a built-in repair tool, and that’s the first place to turn when things go awry. The absolute worst case requires running a cleanup tool on the current Office installation, followed by a clean install of a new copy of Office. That has never failed in my experience, any time I’ve had to go that far. The steps to access the repair tool vary depending on your operating system.

Recover data when you can't open the workbook in Excel

This sort of thing does occur from time to time, and it is often quite easy to repair. If one or more Office apps is acting glitchy, work your way through this series of repair maneuvers, starting with the simplest. Come with me as I write this article in real time as I try to resolve the issue. If you’re lucky, you’ll find your problem covered, and SaRA will fix it for you. However, let’s return to Step 1 to start this process where it also usually ends. You’re working on a document or a spreadsheet, or using email, and BAM!

Step 1: Run the Office Quick Repair tool

If you’re not sure, the Installed Apps list we started with is a good place to look. If you’re coming from section 2, grab the download link for what Microsoft calls the "uninstall support tool" in its Support pages. Its filename is SetupProd_Offscrub.exe, so I’ve gotten in the habit of calling it "OffScrub" myself.

Reinstalling Office

In my experience, only 1 in 10 Office installations will still fail to work. If yours works, count yourself lucky and get back to your normal routine. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. If a Microsoft 365 application such as Word or Excel isn't working correctly, sometimes restarting it will fix the problem. If that doesn't work, you can try repairing it.

Step 4: Wax off, wax on (remove and replace Office)

One of your Microsoft Office applications starts acting weird or stops responding. Find solutions to common problems or get help from a support agent.

• If you have to go this far during actual Office repairs, my condolences.
• If you’re lucky, when you open your formerly balky or misbehaving Windows app, all will be well.
• That has never failed in my experience, any time I’ve had to go that far.
• You’ll then need to re-download and reinstall Microsoft Office.
• Its filename is SetupProd_Offscrub.exe, so I’ve gotten in the habit of calling it "OffScrub" myself.
• Exactly how you do this will depend on the specific add-on.

Even on my 2012 vintage test machine, it was done in under a minute (on a healthy Office installation, I cheerfully confess). When the process Outlook stuck on loading fix completes, the "Done repairing" window appears, as shown in Figure 6. Once you’ve clicked Change, you may see a User Account Control window asking for permission to run the repair program. Click Yes, and the built-in Office repair window appears. The Quick Repair option, as shown in Figure 2, is selected by default.

Automatically create a recovery file at set intervals

You’ll then need to re-download and reinstall Microsoft Office. When complete, a checkmark appears next to the Rest button. Unzip to a folder of your choosing, then run the file named SaraSetup.exe to install the program.

When you're done, you might need to restart your computer. I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read. Microsoft SaRA is the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. If you’re lucky, when you open your formerly balky or misbehaving Windows app, all will be well. With the Quick Repair radio button selected, click the Repair button near the bottom right corner of the window. Please relax, and don’t give in to panic or upset.

At least two computers at my workplace don't have Office (or its components) showing in the Installed Apps. After the list of installed apps populates (it can take some time, depending on how much you have installed), scroll down and look for Microsoft 365 (Office). Then it took another 4 minutes and 24 seconds for the (genuine) progress bar shown above to download all the files. Watching my network access while this was underway, I saw the typical on-again, off-again download behavior for Windows Update occurring here. The download meter ran as high as 180 Mbps, and as low as a few Kbps while the download was underway. Office’s Online Repair option works and goes through exactly the same steps as Quick Repair, so I won’t walk through all those screen shots again.

It includes options for Teams, Office, the Outlook desktop client, Outlook on the web, advanced diagnostics, and more. When you run a Quick Repair operation, Office will attempt simple repairs using local files already on your PC. This usually takes a minute or two to complete. In about 4 cases out of 5, in my personal experience, this step alone is enough to repair Office properly and restore it to working order.