Unsafe removal of USB or any other external storage device may corrupt the data inside your Office files or turn the file inaccessible. Now, when you attempt to open a Word or an Excel file, all the data is gone. Suppose all your Office files are stored on a USB device, and you unplugged the device while it was still open in Windows. This may happen because of a virus infecting the Office files and registry values, thus leading to corrupt or damaged Office files. You assume that an add-in was causing the problem and restart the Office application without add-ins loaded, but the application still crashes.
When you open or use the Microsoft Office application, it crashes as soon as it opens. Due to a power surge, sudden system shutdown, and internal mechanical failure, the files may have turned corrupt.įigure 1- Microsoft Word file showing garbage characters Scenario 2 – Office Files and Registry Entries Become Infected However, when you try to access the data within the files post-migration, you may find Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files showing gibberish characters. You decide to move Office files from your hard drive to other removable media. Scenarios behind Microsoft Office Files Corruption Scenario 1 – Disruption during Data Migration Let’s discuss some common scenarios which may lead to corrupt MS Office 2016 files: If you frequently work with Microsoft Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), and PowerPoint (.pptx) files, then issues like file inaccessibility or corruption won’t be new to you.