Fix PowerPoint File Corrupted and Cannot be Opened Error

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Written By Ashwani Tiwari
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On July 25th, 2022
Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading

Are you also facing the problem of “PowerPoint file corrupted and cannot be opened”? If this error message is giving you a hard time, worry no more. Here we will discuss both the causes and solutions to this problem.

From the last few days, I failed to open PowerPoint files on my system. Whenever I try, I see the message that says PowerPoint 2010 the file is corrupted and cannot be opened. After reading some forums, I also updated my MS Office version, but still facing the same problem. Can you help me resolve this problem and open the PowerPoint files without any trouble?”

In our previous article, we have talked about Excel file corrupted and cannot be opened. For this post, we have chosen to discuss “PowerPoint file corrupted and cannot be opened” error. Both the reasons and the remedial methods will get included in our discussion. So, continue reading…

Causes of “PowerPoint File Corrupted and Cannot be Opened” Issue

Various situations can cause PowerPoint slides to become damaged or corrupt that PowerPoint program cannot open it. One of the commonly known causes is virus or malware attack. Apart from this, there are three main causes of PPTX 2016 file corruption and we will discuss those below:

  • Improper Copying: Sometimes, we copy PowerPoint files from some other systems to ours. Since the files are created and edited in a different computer, MS PowerPoint of user system may find it impossible to open. In that case, this error message appears.
  • Incomplete Download: When users download presentation slides from email or websites, the download needs to be complete. In case of incomplete download, the files will become corrupt and remain inaccessible until the problem is resolved.
  • Version Difference: If the version of PowerPoint file and the MS PowerPoint application is different, corrupt PPTX file error can pop-up. Version difference will not always create problem, but if you are getting this “cannot open PowerPoint file” error, make sure to check if this has been the cause or not.

Fix “PowerPoint File Corrupted and Cannot be Opened” Problem

Native approaches are available to resolve PowerPoint 2010 the file is corrupted and cannot be opened” error. Readers can choose to use any of the methods that we are going to talk about in this section:

1. Unblock the Security Warning:

If the security setting of the presentation file in question blocks it from opening in non-native system, users have to unblock the feature.


1. Go to the location of the corrupt MS PowerPoint file and select it.

2. Right-click on the file and choose Properties.

3. In the General tab, you will find a Security warning that says: “This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer.”

4. Choose the Unblock box to remove this warning and open PPTX file seamlessly.

This might be helpful while you are dealing to this error. If this doesn’t work accordingly then, switch to next method.

2. Change Settings of Component Services

You can open the corrupted Powerpoint file by making some changes in the Component Services Settings. You can also resolve PowerPoint 2010 the file is corrupted and cannot be opened by following below steps.

  1. Press Windows + R keys and type dcomcnfg.

2. Component Services will open where you have to expand Component Services>> Computers from the left panel.

3. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Choose the Default Properties tab on the Properties window.

Set value: “Default Authentication Level” and “Default Impersonation Level” as Connect and Identify respectively. Click on OK .

The new settings might fix PPTX errors. In case you are facing trouble while performing this method. Feel free to try the another mentioned solution, it won’t harm your PowerPoint file.

3. Alter MS Office Trust Center Settings

You can remove corruption from the Powerpoint file and make them open by doing some changes in Trust Center Settings. Since the Trust Center settings can also be responsible for this problem. Below steps will helpful to resolve PowerPoint file corrupted and cannot be opened error.

  1. Open MS PowerPoint program and click on File.

2. Go to  Options from the opened window.

3. Here, Choose Trust Center. Then, select Trust Center Settings.

4. In this, select Protected View. There will be three options on that page. Uncheck all the boxes and click OK.

5. Close and restart the MS PowerPoint application. You should not have any problem now while opening the slides.

Above mentioned tricks are tested by experts so, no need to worry. You can surely resolve the corrupted powerpoint issue, try SysTools PowerPoint Recovery Tool to repair Powerpoint files. This will ultimately allows you to open the PPTX file without showing any error message.

Concluding Words

“PowerPoint file corrupted and cannot be opened” can cause a lot of trouble for the users. If you are also having the same issue, you can try the methods depicted in this write-up. All these techniques are proven solutions to fix “PowerPoint 2010 the file is corrupted and cannot be opened” error.

  author

By Ashwani Tiwari

Being a Chief Technical Analyst, I am aware of the technicalities faced by the user while working with multiple technologies. So, through my blogs and articles, I love to help all the users who face various challenges while dealing with technology.