Thursday, July 31, 2025

Excel File corrupted like no data showing its blank page menu option grey out








When I open the file, everything is disabled — I can’t see or edit content. The ribbon buttons, Save, Save As, Print, and others are greyed out. It only shows File > New, Open, Account, Options.”

✅ Step-by-Step Solutions

✅ Step 1: Unblock the File in Windows

  1. Right-click the Excel file.

  2. Click Properties.

  3. If you see a checkbox or message saying "This file came from another computer and might be blocked", click:

    • ✅ Unblock

  4. Click Apply > OK.

Then try opening the file again.

✅ Step 2: Disable Protected View in Excel

  1. Open Excel (not the file)

  2. Go to File > Options > Trust Center

  3. Click Trust Center Settings

  4. Go to Protected View

  5. Uncheck all these options:

    • ✔️ Enable Protected View for files from the internet

    • ✔️ Enable Protected View for unsafe locations

    • ✔️ Enable Protected View for Outlook attachments

  6. Click OK > OK

  7. Close Excel completely and reopen the file

✅ Step 3: Open Excel in Safe Mode

To check if it's an add-in or extension issue:

  1. Press Windows + R

  2. Type: excel /safe

  3. Press Enter

Then try opening the file in that Excel session.

✅ Step 4: Copy File to a Different Location

  1. Move the file from Downloads, Desktop, or Email Temp Folder to:

    Documents\Excel\

  2. Try reopening the file from that new location.

✅ Step 5: Recover from Open Dialog

  1. Open Excel

  2. Go to File > Open

  3. Browse to the file

  4. Click the drop-down next to Open button

  5. Choose Open and Repair

  6. Click Repair (or Extract Data if that fails)

✅ Step 6: Try Opening in Google Sheets (Quick Recovery)

  1. Go to https://sheets.google.com

  2. Upload the Excel file

  3. If it opens fine, save it as:

    • Excel .xlsx

    • Or copy your data into a new sheet

✅ Step 7: Check Excel Activation Status

If your Excel license is not activated or expired:

  1. Open Excel

  2. Go to File > Account

  3. Look for:

    • ⚠️ “Product Activation Required”

    • ⚠️ "View Only Mode"

If found, activate or sign in with the licensed Microsoft account.

💡 Still Not Opening?

If all options are greyed out and none of the above works, the file might be:

  • Severely corrupted

  • Password protected

  • Or locked via macros/VBA (auto-lock script)

Would you like to upload the file here (if non-sensitive), and I can help you try to fix or extract the contents?