‘File Could Not Be Found’ Error in Excel: How To Fix

To fix this issue begin with checking the file’s location ✅

4 min. read

Updated onNovember 8, 2023

updated onNovember 8, 2023

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Key notes

SomeExcelusers havequeriedhow they can fix an Excelfile could not be founderror on the Microsoft forum. The error message states:

[filename] could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name and verify that the file location is correct.

That error message pops when those users try to open an Excel file within the software or click an XLS spreadsheet file to start the application. The issue arises for Excel 2007 and 2010 versions.

How to fix ‘[filename] could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name and verify that the file location is correct.’ ?

To fix this error, you will need to determine the cause of the problem and take appropriate action.

1. Edit the file and folder titles

If the folder’s path includes numerous subfolders, try shorting their folder titles by selecting theRenameoption as outlined above.

2. Move the file to an alternative folder path

3. Edit the registry

4. Deactivate Excel add-ins

While disabling an add-in, you can quickly add the ones you want to use to avoidthe #NAME errorsin Excel; read this to learn more.

Those are resolutions users have confirmed fixed the Excel file could not be found error for them.

Users who have fixed the same error message using other methods can share their alternative fixes below.

‘File Could Not Be Found’ Error in Excel: How To Fix#

How to fix ‘[filename] could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name and verify that the file location is correct.’ ?#

1. Edit the file and folder titles#

2. Move the file to an alternative folder path#

3. Edit the registry#

4. Deactivate Excel add-ins#