Corrupted 'Read-Only' Excel File

[Ste]

Hi there,

I've been using an Excel file for the past year and when editing it
today, I was suddenly unable to save it due to it being 'not found' or
'read only.'

So I quit the application and tried to re-open the file, and I'm given
the following message:

"The file may be read-only, or you may be trying to access a read-only
location. Or, the server the document is stored on may not be
responding."

The document isn't read-only, the the file location is my Macbook.

Any ideas for how I can fix this? Or even with free/trial software?

Thanks,

Ste

 

[CyberTaz]

First thing I would try isn't really a fix, but more of a test - With excel
not running navigate to the file in a Finder window & double-click it to see
if it will open that way. If not, try copying the file to another location &
see if you can successfully open the copy.

 

[Ste]

First thing I would try isn't really a fix, but more of a test - With excel
not running navigate to the file in a Finder window & double-click it to see
if it will open that way. If not, try copying the file to another location &
see if you can successfully open the copy.

The above error did happen when trying to open it in the finder. :-(

A bizarre thing happened today - the file was still last modified at
the same time as it was yesterday, but it's now 0 bytes instead of
520kb and it now opens a blank spreadsheet.

Any ideas? I do have another copy, but this copy is all corrupted and
'gobbledegook' when I open it.

Thanks,

Ste

 

[CyberTaz]

The above error did happen when trying to open it in the finder. :-(

A bizarre thing happened today - the file was still last modified at the
same time as it was yesterday, but it's now 0 bytes instead of 520kb and
it now opens a blank spreadsheet.

Any ideas? I do have another copy, but this copy is all corrupted and
'gobbledegook' when I open it.

Thanks,

Ste

I'm afraid I don't have much to offer, but perhaps one of the other
"regulars" have some ideas. They'll need more info though:

OS X and Office versions & update levels
Origin of the file
Any other details you can think of (add-ins, macros, etc.)
Macbook - PPC or Intel? Specs?

You might also run Disk Utility - Verify Disk as a part of troubleshooting
potential disk errors. (Or Disk Warrior or comparable if you have it.)