This error tells us something the user already suspects: the file isn't broken. The behavior is too consistent. Opening from the File menu works; double-clicking fails. Excel 2019 handles it fine; newer versions reject it. The pattern points to a change Microsoft made in how Excel loads files, not a corruption in the macro itself. When the recovery process deletes the VBA project, it confirms the file is structurally valid, Excel just refuses to trust it from Explorer.
The practical consequence is straightforward. Any XLSM file that relies on VBA macros, especially those created or last saved in an older version of Excel, now carries a hidden incompatibility. Users who double-click to open their daily workflow tool get an error screen instead of their data. They're told the file is damaged, but it isn't. They lose macros if they accept the recovery prompt. The solution, always open Excel first, then use File > Open, is a workaround, not a fix. For a business with dozens of such files distributed across a team, that workaround becomes a recurring productivity tax.
What this reveals about modern spreadsheet tools is worth noting. The platform has grown more protective of what it considers unsafe content, and VBA, the scripting backbone for countless custom workflows, is treated as a risk by default. Microsoft's security posture is understandable. The frustration is that the user gets no actionable diagnostic. No message says "This file contains macros that are blocked when opened directly." Instead, they get a generic recovery prompt that removes the very functionality they need. The user tried six different recovery methods across multiple computers. None worked. That's not a user error; it's a transparency failure in the error handling.
The takeaway is not to abandon VBA or Excel. It's to recognize that the old way of distributing macro-enabled files is becoming unreliable. If you manage these files, plan to convert critical macros to newer alternatives or adopt a deployment method that bypasses Explorer double-click. Test every XLSM on the version of Excel your team actually uses. Treat the "open from File menu" workaround as a temporary patch, not a permanent solution. The file works, but only if you know the trick. That's not how professional tools should behave.