I can't open a fileI can't open a file
The file may be damaged
The file you are trying to open may be damaged. Your Microsoft Office program may let you try to recover the text from the damaged file, or if recovery doesn't work, you can delete the damaged file and open a backup copy.
How?
- If the Microsoft Office program you are using is not responding, recover the program.
- On the Microsoft Windows Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Office Application Recovery.
- In the Application list, click the program or document that is not responding.
- Do one of the following:
- To attempt to recover the files you were working on, click Recover Application or Restart Application.
- If you just want to close the program, and lose recent changes to the files, click End Application.
- The error that caused the problem can be reported to Microsoft for use in improving future versions of the program. Click Report problem or Don't report problem.
- Open the Office program.
- Review the files listed in the Document Recovery task pane, and decide which to keep.
If a file has [Recovered] in the title it is usually a file that contains more recent changes than a file with [Original] in the title.
- If you want to view what repairs were made to a file, point to the file in the Document Recovery task pane, click the arrow next to the file's name, and then click Show Repairs.
- If you want to review the versions that were recovered, open all of the versions and save the best one.
- For each file you want to keep, point to the file in the Document Recovery task pane, click the arrow next to the file's name, and then do one of the following:
- To work with the file, click Open.
- To save the file, click Save As, and then enter a name for the file. By default, the file is saved in the same folder as the original file. If you use the same name as the original file, the original is overwritten. When you see a message asking whether you want to replace the existing file (with the changes you made up to the last time you saved the file), click Yes.
- When you have opened or saved all of the files you want to keep, click Close in the Document Recovery task pane.
The file name may be too long
The file name or the path name may exceed 223 characters. Do one of the following:
Shorten the file name.
Move the file to another folder that is closer to the top of the folder hierarchy.
Try to open the file again.
The disk the file is on may be too full
Try moving files to another disk to make more space available.
The Open dialog box doesn't list the file I'm looking for
Check the file type
Make sure you have the correct file type selected in the Files of type box.
Conduct a search
In the Open dialog box, type the name of the file in the File name box, click Tools, and then click Find. Select the Search subfolders check box, and then click Find Now.
Check the search criteria
When doing a search, make sure the entries in the Find dialog box under Define more criteria are appropriate for the files you're searching for. To clear all current search criteria except the file location, and to reset to the default file type, click New Search.
Make sure you're looking on the correct drive and in the correct folder. If you don't know the folder name, you can search all folders and subfolders on the specified drive by enabling the Search subfolders option.
You can search multiple paths by typing the paths in the File name box. Separate each path with a semicolon — for example, type c:\House finances;c:\My work documents.
Check the network connection
If you're looking for a file on the network and the network drive doesn't appear in the Open dialog box under Look in, do the following:
Click Tools, and then click Map Network Drive.
In the Drive box, click the drive letter you want to use to connect to the network.
In the Path box, enter the path where the file is located on the network.
Tip
You can also look for files on a network drive if your network supports the UNC. Just type the UNC path in the File name box in the Open dialog box — for example, type \\plans\documents.
Look in Network Places or Web Folders
If you're looking for files on a Web server:
In Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows Millennium Edition: in the Open dialog box, click Network Places on the Places Bar to display folders on the Web server. Double-click the folders until you open the folder that contains the document you want.
In Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0: in the Open dialog box, click Web Folders on the Place Bar to display folders on the Web server. Double-click the folders until you open the folder that contains the document you want.
You can also type the folder path in the File name box in the Open dialog box — for example, type http://myserver/public.
I can't open a password protected file
Passwords are case-sensitive. Check to see whether the CAPS LOCK key is on, or retype the password to make sure that you didn't mistype it.
My file opened in a separate window
When you create or open a file in Microsoft Office XP program, the file opens in a separate window. You can quickly switch from one file to another by clicking the file's button on the taskbar or by pressing ALT+TAB.
The shortcut to my file doesn't work anymore
The shortcut will not work if there has been any change to the target file's name or extension. Use the Microsoft Office Search feature to look for files that have similar names or that were created or modified on the same date as the file you are trying to open.
- Click Open
.
- Click Tools in the Open dialog box, and then click Search.
- Do one of the following:
You can find a file containing text in its title, contents, or properties.
- On the Basic tab, in the Search text box, type the text to search for in Microsoft Office files, Web pages, and Microsoft Outlook items.
You can use wildcards in the Search text box. Type a question mark (?) to match any single character, or type an asterisk (*) to match any number of characters. For example, s?t finds "sat" and "set"; s*d finds "sad" and "started."
- To limit where to search, in the Search in box, select one or more drives, folders, Web sites, or Outlook mailboxes. To search everywhere, select Everywhere. To specify a single location, type it directly in the Search in box.
- To limit the types of search results, in the Results should be box, select the types of items to find. To find all types of files, Web pages, and Outlook items, select Anything.
- Click Search.
To view all properties of a found item, click the command button following the item, and then choose Properties.
- On the Advanced tab, enter one or more search criteria.
- In the Property box, choose a property from the list or type in a property name. The Property box displays the properties available in the currently open document.
You can use wildcards in the Property box. Type a question mark (?) to match any single character, or type an asterisk (*) to match any number of characters. For example, s?t finds "sat" and "set"; s*d finds "sad" and "started."
- In the Condition box, choose a condition from the list, or type in a condition.
- In the Value box, enter the value to associate with the condition.
- If previous search criteria exist, click And to add a criterion that must be true in addition to previous criteria. Click Or to add a criterion that is sufficient regardless of previous criteria.
- Click Add to add the search criterion.
Note If the value is invalid for the condition or property, the Add button is unavailable.
- To limit where to search, in the Search in box, select one or more drives, folders, Web sites, or Outlook mailboxes. To search everywhere, select Everywhere. To specify a single drive, folder, or Web site, type it directly in the Search in box.
- To limit the types of search results, in the Results should be box, select the types of files, Web pages, and Outlook items to find. To find all types of files and items, select Anything.
- Click Search.
To view all properties of a found item, click the command button following the item, and then choose Properties.
- If the file is located on a network server, consult your network administrator to find out if the server drive is unavailable.
- If the file is located on removable media such as a floppy disk, make sure the media with the target file is properly inserted in the drive or device.