We have a simple opinion on this: the moment a spreadsheet refuses to open, the problem is not the file. The problem is the tool. When a user like /u/_TheVek_ follows all the expected steps, saving to an external drive, opening it successfully one day, finding it broken the next, and then tries the only repair option available, only to watch it fail, the spreadsheet software itself has revealed its limits. This is not a user error. It is a design limitation that has been accepted for too long.
Think about what happened here. A file worked yesterday. Nothing changed except the passage of time. And yet, the application cannot recover it. The "open and repair" feature is a last resort, and when it fails, the user is left with nothing but frustration and a forum post. This is the reality of legacy spreadsheet technology: it treats data as fragile, opaque objects that can become unreadable without warning. For anyone who depends on their work, that is not a feature, it is a risk. The user's polite apology for their English only underscores the point. They are already doing the hard work of navigating complexity, and the tool should be meeting them halfway.
What this means in practical terms is that we need to stop accepting fragility as normal. A smarter way forward is one where data is not locked inside a proprietary format that can break. It is a way where AI-native tools can read, interpret, and reconstruct a file even when its structure is damaged. Instead of asking the user to manually repair a corrupted document, the system should understand the data's intent and help rebuild it. This is not a distant vision. It is a capability that exists today for those willing to explore beyond the familiar.
For /u/_TheVek_, the immediate answer is likely to try a third-party recovery tool or check if the external drive itself is failing. But the deeper takeaway is this: a tool that can only work when everything is perfect is not a tool worth depending on. The next time a file refuses to open, consider that the real problem may not be the file at all. It may be that you are using a tool designed for a world where data never breaks, and that world does not exist. Explore a solution that treats your data as resilient, not fragile.