Many Office users have reported that they see an error “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” when opening a Word document, and they don’t know what to do with this Word error. If you are one of them, don’t worry. This is a common Word error and is fixable. This article will show you how.
- Part 1: Why Is the Error Occur?
- Part 2: How to Fix The File Is Corrupted and Cannot Be Opened
- Part 3: Bonus Tips: Repair Word Document Issue with Stellar Repair for Word
- Part 4: FAQs About The File Is Corrupted and Cannot Be Opened Word
Part 1: Why Is the Error Occur?
As the error massage indicated, the file you are trying to open has been corrupted for no reason, and that’s why you can’t open this file.
And this error occurs not only on Microsoft Word application, it happens to Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. In addition to that, in most cases, it happens in Microsoft Excel 2010 and PowerPoint 2010 after upgrading from their 2007 versions.
Part 2: How to Fix The File Is Corrupted and Cannot Be Opened
After understanding what “This file is corrupted and cannot be opened” error is and why the error occurs, you will find how to fix this error in this part. We have summarized two solutions to fix this error when opening Word documents. Check it out.
Way 1: Check Trust Center Settings in Word Options
The first method for “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” Word is to check the Trust Center settings in Word settings.
You may be wondering what Trust Center is in Word. As a matter of fact, you can find and manage security and privacy settings for Microsoft Office in Trust Center. And yes, this option will allow you to fix the error that troubles you a lot.
1. Since you cannot open the Word file you want, you can open any of the Word file in your computer, or try to create a new Word file to open it (even though it is a blank document).
2. Click the File tab from the top of the Word menu.
3. Click Options on the left.
4. Click Trust Center, and click Trust Center Settings. This will allow you to enter the settings for Trust Center.
5. Click Protected View on the left bar.
6. In this pane, uncheck all the available options for Protected View, then click OK to save the changes.
7. Save your Word document and close it.
8. Restart Microsoft Word and your problem should be fixed.
Now try to open the Word file that was giving you the annoying error and see how it works.
If this method didn’t work for you, don’t give up. Keep on reading and try the next method.
Way 2: Configure Component Security
Sometimes you cannot open your Word files properly, not because your Word file is corrupted or your Word settings is incorrect. Maybe it is because that the settings for the program is incorrect. In this case, you should configure the settings in your computer.
If you keep seeing “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” for Word, and the method above isn’t working at all, consider modifying Component Security settings in your computer. It may work like a magic.
1. First of all, open Component Services in your computer. You can press Windows key and R at the same time, then type dcomcnfg and press Enter. This will bring up Component Services in your computer.
2. Double click Component Services on the left of the pane to expand it, then go to Computers > My Computer.
3. Right click on My Computer and then choose Properties.
4. Click on Default Properties tab, and set Default Authentication Level to Connect, and set Default Impersonation Level to Identify.
5. Click OK to save your changes.
6. Restart your computer.
Now open the Word file that is having a problem, and it should be opened properly.
Part 3: Bonus Tips: Repair Word Document Issue with Stellar Repair for Word
If you are having a problem recovering your Word document, or your Word program is popping up an error and you don’t know how to fix it, then Stellar Repair for Word is a nice choice for you.
Why you should choose Stellar Repair for Word:
- It repairs Word documents that is corrupted or damaged.
- It repairs the Word file components like fonts, text, footers, headers, links.
- It can even repair images and videos inserted in your Word document (for new Word versions).
- It allows you to find and recover Word files that you don’t even know where they are.
To know how to use Stellar Repair for Word:
1. Download and install the program in your computer.
2. Click Browse if you know the path for the Word file that you want to recover; if you don’t know the path of your Word file, click Search and this program will find all the recoverable Word files for you.
3. Then you preview the recoverable files, and select the one that you want to repair.
4. Click Save File and the tool will repair the file and save it for you.
This is super easy and you shouldn’t miss out such as great tool.
Summary
This article has introduced two effective solutions for “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” Word. If you are having the same issue, try to fix your problem with these two methods. In case you run into any other Word errors or have a difficulty in recovering your Word document, try Stellar Repair for Word - a professional Word repair tool on Windows.
In addition, if you are having a problem recovering your Word file password, you can try PassFab for Word to find your Word open password again.
Part 4: FAQs About The File Is Corrupted and Cannot Be Opened Word
Q1: Why is The file is corrupted and cannot be opened error happening?
It’s likely that your Word file is corrupted for no reason and you will fail to open it; another possible reason is that the settings in your Word application or in your computer are incorrect, and this will result in this error as well.
Q2: How do you fix the file is corrupted and cannot be opened word?
As introduced in this article, you can fix “The file is corrupted and cannot be opened” by configuring the Trust Center settings in Word or configuring the Component services settings in Windows.