How to repair a damaged file 【step by step】 ⭐️

If you have a file that you want to repair because it is damaged, there is a possibility to do so. In this tutorial we show you how to do it.

We talk about the case in which we have a damaged file, either because we have deleted and recovered it or because it is corrupt. Similarly, there are ways to repair it to continue enjoying it, although we cannot always get it. Next, we are going to tell you how to do it step by step. Ready?

Index of contents

Office file

First, we will start by telling you how you can repair a Microsoft Office file, be it a Word document, an Excel or a PowerPoint. We have to try before we give up, so let's go there!

• Open Microsoft Office Word / Excel / PowerPoint and go to the "File" tab. Inside it we go to "Open" and then "Browse".

• We select the file in question and click on the "Open" tab, clicking on "Open and repair".

This should suffice, but you may not be able to fully repair it. It is better to try than to throw in the towel the first time.

Check hard drives

It would be good to know this little trick before installing any third-party program that we will detail below. The first thing to do is check for errors on the hard drive. To do this we doing the next:

• We open the explorer and go to "This computer", where the hard drives are. Right click on the HDD in which is the file that is damaged and click on "Properties". A window will open and you will go to the "Tools" tab. In the “Checking for errors” section, click on “Check”.

• Finally, you examine the unit. If it tells you that there are no errors, perfect.

With this, what we are going to do now is open the "Command Prompt" to put a couple of commands.

• We open the start menu and write "cmd". We run as administrator.

• Once opened, we try to write the following:

CHKDSK

• If you have the file saved on another hard drive, you have to put the following (without quotes):

CHKDSK "/ hard drive letter". For example: CHKDSK / F

If everything is perfect, let's go to repair the damaged file.

Recuva Piriform

Personally, I have used it several times to rescue video game save games because I accidentally deleted the folders (doing a cleaning, let's say, too exhaustive). The funny thing is that it manages to rescue almost all the files that we have deleted, unless a long time has passed.

This is important in case you want to rescue deleted files: the more time passes, the less chance of recovering them. However, we can use this program to repair a damaged file, so we highly recommend it.

I really like this program because it tells you what files we can recover and use, such as those that have been permanently damaged. To refine the search, we can choose to search for documents, images, videos, etc. You can use Recuva with the recycle bin, a memory card or a certain folder on our PC.

To finish, tell you that it is a free application and that it is portable, which means that we do not have to install it. Obviously, the professional version is much better, but we will have to pay for it. You can download both versions here.

File repair

This tool is somewhat more limited, but it can be used perfectly to satisfy your needs. In your case, it will only recover common files, from documents, videos, images, compressed files to corrupted databases. So, the most specific files are left out of all of them.

In our experience, it is a very simple application that solves the general problems of corrupt files. We wanted to recommend it to you because it offers a very interesting solution, it is easy to use and, most important of all, it is free.

Also, File Repair is ideal for repairing damaged file that is caused by unexpected shutdown, virus or network interruption. Try it and tell us how it went.

DiskInternals ZIP Repair

This is yet another utility to repair files, but in this case we are referring to compressed.zip files. These types of files are very common, so there is a great possibility that we may find ourselves needing to repair a damaged file. Personally, I have come across one many times.

Its operation is simple: we select the file that we want to repair and give it an "exit name". Typically, these files corrupt the CRC values, making it impossible to extract the files.

Just say that it is very easy to use and that we can download it for free on their website.

Recovery Toolbox for RAR

To finish this little compilation of tools, tell you that you have Recovery Toolbox for RAR. It is a program that focuses on damaged.rar files. Have you ever downloaded a damaged part and you have run out of extraction? This usually happens when we download something by parts and one of them is damaged.

Well, with this program we can repair the damaged file with total ease. Of course, the file cannot exceed 4 GB of capacity. Unfortunately, it is not free and we only have a demo available. However, it may be worth buying it because it is not very expensive. You can download it here.

We recommend reading Error hard disk

So far this little tutorial, we hope it has served you. If you have any questions, please leave them below. Have you ever repaired a damaged file? How? Did you know these programs?