It’s happened to all of us: we’ve gone to open an important file and when we open it it’s full of strange code, is incomplete, or is otherwise damaged. What happens next? Often, panic sets in and we wonder: what am I going to do without this file?
Don’t panic. You still have options for restoring this file.
The first thing you should do (instead of panicking) is check to make sure the issue is in the file and not in your software or hardware. Try opening the file on another machine – does it work? If so, then the issue isn’t with your file (which you now have – hooray!), but could be an issue related to the program you were using to open it instead and you may need to upgrade or replace it.
The next thing to do is to look for other copies of the file you’ve saved elsewhere. Have you emailed it to yourself or someone else recently? Is it backed up on a cloud platform or a CD? Check all your backup systems in case you’ve forgotten that you put a version somewhere safe.
If opening the file on another computer didn’t resolve your issue and you didn’t find a backup copy, then you’ll need to move on and try some file repair software. However, before you try any of the following tips, make a copy of the file you’re trying to restore so you’ll always have a version to go back to throughout your restoration efforts.
Here are two file repair software options and their features:
R-Mail,
R-Word, and R-Excel
These three programs from R-Tools Technology recover and rebuild files from Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel respectively. Rebuilding information to restore a damaged file is much more difficult than recovering a healthy file that was accidentally deleted. That’s why these specialty programs from R-Tools Technology are great – they do one thing and do it well. If you need to restore a damaged Word file, then all you need is R-Word. The easy to use, wizard-style interface will allow you to quickly and effectively restore your file.
File Repair
This is one of the many free repair options available online and can help with simple repair jobs. File Repair scans files and attempts to restore damaged material in a file from the available pieces. You can work with many file types including .doc, .rtf, .xls, .xlsx, .zip, .ppt, jpeg, tiff, bmp, jpg, gif, png, .wav, .mp3, and more with File Repair. Although it may not be able to recover files with the level of precision and completeness of the R-Tools products, File Repair can restore many more file types which broadens its appeal and usefulness.
There are many additional software options out there that you can find based on the type of file you are trying to rebuild. By searching specific file types you can find specialized software and instructions for recovering those files. If you’re looking for a specific recommendation, it may be worthwhile to call a data recovery specialist to learn what software they would use or get a quote for professional recovery if the file or files are particularly valuable.