How to Fix Microsoft Office Cannot Open This File Because Some Parts Are Missing or Invalid

Is your screen showing the error message - Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid when you try to open an old file? Do not worry because we have got the right solutions for you! If you have corrupted Office files, turn to EaseUS file repair software and you can get the corrupted Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF files back with simple steps. Read on to solve your problem.

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Despite some shortcomings, Microsoft Word is the most widely used word-processing program among competitors. For example, if you try to open an old file in the new Microsoft Office, it might fail to open. It can be due to version incompatibility, or the file might be corrupted.

The Microsoft Word file you’re trying to open might be damaged, and you will get an error message stating, The file is corrupt and cannot be opened. This is followed by the message Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid. However, this article will provide you with methods for resolving this issue!

Workable Solutions Step-by-step Troubleshooting
1. Repair Corrupted Word Documents
  1. Download EaseUS Fixo document repair tool. 
  2. Select "File Repair" and then "Add Files".
  3. Repair single or multiple Word files efficiently...Full steps
2. Update Trust Center Settings
  1. Open MS Word on your computer.
  2. Select "File" and then "Options".
  3. Select "Trust Center"...Full steps
3. Change Security Settings
  1. Open the search bar, type dcomcnfg.
  2. Choose "Component Services".
  3. Double-click on the "Computers" folder...Full steps

Symptoms - Microsoft Office Cannot Open This File

The error message Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid appears when you attempt to access a document written in a previous software version, such as 2007 or 2003.

Damaged File

It is common for this error message to appear after an update or when a problem arises during the saving process. If your computer loses power or crashes while you're saving a file or while MS Word is writing to the disk, there's a big chance that the file may get damaged.

Malfunctioning Storage or Malware

Most recent versions of Microsoft Word have reduced corruption by AutoSaving to a new place rather than saving on top of the currently opened document. Even if you follow all of the safety steps, you may still get these disappointing warnings indicating that a Word file has been corrupted or damaged.

The unexpected behavior might be linked to malfunctioning regions of your storage device in some instances. Additionally, malware threats may result in faulty Word files, mainly when the malware is so severe that it causes a system failure and tampers with the file.

To avoid this, make sure you back up your data regularly. You may be disappointed when you cannot view an important document. However, you shouldn't be too concerned about it since we will teach you how to fix damaged Word files in the next section.

Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid

Fix Microsoft Office Cannot Open This File Because Some Parts Are Missing or Invalid

Let's first try the following Word file repair procedures, which you may use right now to get your files back in order and resolve this error. Two other methods are also practical: one requires updating Trust Center Settings, and the other involves modifying system configurations. Let's proceed!

How to Repair Corrupt Word Files with a File Repair Tool

As mentioned earlier, if your Word document is corrupted, you will see the problem: Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid. In this case, we recommend you use the EaseUS Fixo Document Repair to fix damaged or corrupted Word files. 

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The Word file repair tool securely assists you in repairing damaged files while also retaining the document's formatting and style in the way it was created. There is no need to be concerned about compatibility. This easy-to-use tool can repair a Word document without affecting any of its parts, such as photographs, fonts, initial text, links, headers, or footers. 

Download this excellent file repair tool and follow the steps below to repair corrupted Word documents quickly.

Step 1. Download and launch Fixo on your PC or laptop. Choose "File Repair" to repair corrupted Office documents, including Word, Excel, PDF, and others. Click "Add Files" to select corrupted documents.

add files to repair documents with Fixo

Step 2. To repair multiple files at once, click the "Repair All" button. If you want to repair a single document, move your pointer to the target file and choose "Repair". You can also preview the documents by clicking the eye icon.

select documents to repair

Step 3. Click "Save" to save a selected document. Select "Save All" to save all the repaired files. Choose "View Repaired" to locate the repaired folder.

save repaired documents in Fixo

Share this effective file repair tool on social media to help more people needing document repair.

 

Method 2. Update Trust Center Settings

Recent versions of Microsoft Word have a stricter security policy regarding copied or downloaded files; thus, you should update your Trust Center settings to reflect this. You may have difficulties opening a Word document if you have enabled the Enabled Protected View options. You need to update the policy, which is something you already have. Here’s how it’s done.

Step 1. Open MS Word on your computer.

Step 2. Select "File" and then "Options" from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Select "Trust Center" from the drop-down menu and hit the "trust Center settings" button.

Fix Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid-1

Step 4. Select "Protected View" from the drop-down menu.

fix Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid - 2

Step 5. Un-tick everything and hit the "OK" button to confirm your selection.

fix Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid - 3

Step 6. Now try opening the document again after restarting Microsoft Word

Likely, everything went well, and you should now be able to access the document without seeing the error notice Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid.”

Method 3. Change Component Security Settings

Modifying the component security options in Microsoft Office is another approach to resolving the Microsoft Office error. If your document is stopped from launching by the Windows security level, you will need to reset the Component Security settings to their default values. Follow the simple steps below.

Step 1. Open the search bar, type dcomcnfg, and press the Enter key.

change component security -1

Step 2. A new window will appear. Choose "Component Services" from the menu.

Step 3. Double-click on the "Computers" folder on the main window of the screen.

change component security -2

Step 4. You should now view the "My Computer" icon. Right-click on it and pick "Properties" from the drop-down menu.

change component security -3

Step 5. Select the "Default Properties" option from the drop-down menu.

change component security -4

Step 6. Edit the "Default Distributed Properties" tab by selecting "Default" from the drop-down option under Default Distributed Com Communication Properties.

Step 7. Select the "OK" button and choose "Identity" from the Default impersonation level drop-down list.

change component security -5

Conclusion

Everything you need to know about how to fix Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid has been provided to you in this article. This article also introduces the file repair tool as a third-party solution. Using this tool, you may fix damaged Microsoft Office documents. We hope our solutions are of great help to you. Have a good read!

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About the Author

author Brithny

Brithny

Brithny is a technology enthusiast, aiming to make readers' tech lives easy and enjoyable. She loves exploring new technologies and writing technical how-to tips. In her spare time, she loves sharing things about her game experience on Facebook or Twitter.

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