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"The file you are trying to open, [filename], is in a different format than specified by the file extension" error opening Excel files

  • Article

When trying to open an Excel file, you may run into the following error:

"The file you are trying to open, [filename], is in a different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trustworthy source before opening the file. Do you want to open the file now?"

Clicking Yes to open the file, you may find that the content of the file is unreadable and contains unreadable characters and/or symbols.

This is an issue that can happen when Symantec Endpoint Protection is installed on the machine. To resolve the problem, update Symantec Endpoint Protection to the most recent version.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Congratulations

  • Anonymous
    April 02, 2013
    Hello, The same error came with me when opening a CSV (comma separated values) file in MS Excel. When I checked, the first word of the file was "ID" (for customer id as the file contained customers data). When I changed the "ID" to "Customer Id", the issue was resolved. Thanks

  • Anonymous
    July 13, 2016
    Though the solution was pretty simple but it took hours to identify the problem. Thanks for your solutin 'inam101'