Always work on a copy Before editing, save a copy to another folder, external drive, or cloud storage. Do not edit your only version. Save incremental copies when changing XML files (for example workbook-v1.xml, workbook-v2.xml).

What a Healthy workbook.xml Looks Like

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<workbook xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main"
          xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships">
  <fileVersion appName="xl" lastEdited="7"/>
  <bookViews>
    <workbookView xWindow="0" yWindow="0"
                  windowWidth="28800" windowHeight="12285"
                  activeTab="0"/>
  </bookViews>
  <sheets>
    <sheet name="Sales"   sheetId="1" r:id="rId1"/>
    <sheet name="Summary" sheetId="2" r:id="rId2"/>
  </sheets>
  <definedNames>
    <definedName name="TotalRevenue">Sales!$E$2:$E$9</definedName>
  </definedNames>
  <calcPr calcId="191"/>
</workbook>
📄
CLEAN-sample-workbook.xlsx Clean Reference
A valid XLSX workbook: open, unzip, and inspect this file as a working reference while following the examples above.
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Type 1

Broken Sheet Reference: rId Mismatch

Each <sheet> entry has an r:id that links it to a physical file via workbook.xml.rels. If these IDs get out of sync, Excel cannot locate the sheet data.

Excel error message 
Removed Part: /xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml part. (Worksheet)
<!-- workbook.xml -->
<sheets>
  <sheet name="Sales"   sheetId="1" r:id="rId1"/>
  <sheet name="Summary" sheetId="2" r:id="rId9"/>  <!-- ← CORRUPT: rId9 does not exist -->
</sheets>

<!-- workbook.xml.rels only has rId1 and rId2 -->
<Relationships>
  <Relationship Id="rId1" Target="worksheets/sheet1.xml"/>
  <Relationship Id="rId2" Target="worksheets/sheet2.xml"/>
</Relationships>

Fix: Change r:id="rId9" to r:id="rId2" so it matches the relationship that actually exists in workbook.xml.rels.

📄
CORRUPT-workbook-rid-mismatch.xlsx Corrupt Example
Sheet 2's r:id points to rId9, which doesn't exist in workbook.xml.rels. Opens in Excel with a "Removed Part" error.
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Type 2

Invalid definedName: Broken Named Range

Named ranges that reference deleted sheets or moved data become #REF! in the XML. A badly malformed definedName can prevent the file from opening entirely.

Excel error message 
Repaired Records: Named range from /xl/workbook.xml part
<definedNames>
  <definedName name="TotalRevenue">Sales!$E$2:$E$9</definedName>
  <definedName name="OldRegion">#REF!</definedName>    <!-- ← CORRUPT: invalid reference -->
  <definedName name=""></definedName>                  <!-- ← CORRUPT: empty name is invalid -->
</definedNames>

Fix: Delete the corrupt <definedName> entries entirely. Named ranges that no longer point to valid data should be removed rather than left as #REF!. 

<!-- Fixed -->
<definedNames>
  <definedName name="TotalRevenue">Sales!$E$2:$E$9</definedName>
</definedNames>
📄
CORRUPT-workbook-broken-definedname.xlsx Corrupt Example
Contains a #REF! named range and an empty-name entry in definedNames. Excel reports a "Repaired Records" warning on open.
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Type 3

Bad activeTab Value

The activeTab attribute tracks which sheet is currently selected. If the value is higher than the number of sheets that exist, Excel errors on open. 

<!-- workbook has 2 sheets: valid indexes are 0 and 1 -->

<workbookView xWindow="0" yWindow="0"
              windowWidth="28800" windowHeight="12285"
              activeTab="7"/>   <!-- ← CORRUPT: index 7 does not exist -->

Fix: Change activeTab to a valid value. activeTab="0" always works; it points to the first sheet. 

<!-- Fixed -->
<workbookView activeTab="0"/>
📄
CORRUPT-workbook-bad-activetab.xlsx Corrupt Example
activeTab is set to 7, but the workbook only has 2 sheets. Excel errors on open.
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Type 4

Duplicate sheetId Values

Each <sheet> must have a unique sheetId. Duplicates occur when sheets are copied by a tool that does not properly increment the counter. 

<sheets>
  <sheet name="Sales"   sheetId="1" r:id="rId1"/>
  <sheet name="Summary" sheetId="1" r:id="rId2"/>  <!-- ← CORRUPT: duplicate sheetId="1" -->
  <sheet name="Archive" sheetId="3" r:id="rId3"/>
</sheets>

Fix: Make each sheetId unique. Renumber sequentially starting from 1. 

<!-- Fixed -->
<sheets>
  <sheet name="Sales"   sheetId="1" r:id="rId1"/>
  <sheet name="Summary" sheetId="2" r:id="rId2"/>
  <sheet name="Archive" sheetId="3" r:id="rId3"/>
</sheets>
📄
CORRUPT-workbook-duplicate-sheetid.xlsx Corrupt Example
Two sheets share sheetId="1". Excel silently drops or errors on the duplicate.
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Checklist: How to Check workbook.xml in Your File

  • Rename your XLSX to .zip and open it
  • Navigate to the xl folder, copy workbook.xml to your Desktop
  • Open in VS Code (with the Red Hat XML extension) and press Shift+Alt+F to format
  • Check that every r:id in <sheets> has a matching Id in workbook.xml.rels
  • Check that activeTab value is less than the number of <sheet> entries (e.g. 2 sheets means valid values are 0 and 1)
  • Check that all sheetId values are unique
  • Look for any <definedName> entries containing #REF! or an empty name attribute
workbook.xml open in VS Code with formatted XML structure and syntax highlighting