Power BI File corrupted

[Heenasaini]

I had been using a Power Bi file which says its corrupted. I really need this file to be restored. the error message says:

"File is corrupted and can't be opened by power bi desktop".

Any suggestion or help would be greatly appreciated.

[v-prasare]

@Heenasaini,

We are following up once again regarding your query. since you have confirmed that you issue has been resolved.  If we don’t hear back, we’ll go ahead and close this thread. we kindly request you to share additional resolution or key insights here to help others in the community.

Should you need further assistance in the future, we encourage you to reach out via the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum and create a new thread. We’ll be happy to help.

Thank you for your understanding and participation.

[Heenasaini · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. i tried most of the steps however could not get this worked (some of them are restricted by IT as i can't see file history and previous version. Finally IT team managed to restore the previous version from backup yesterday and that file is working. I still have no idea how did it get corrupted as it happened first time.

[v-prasare]

Hi @Heenasaini, 

great to hear that file got recovered. Can you please accept the post which is helpful as solution so that it will make easier for community memebers to find similar answers quickly.

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

MS Fabric community support

[mh2587]

change the file extension to .pbit and save it then try to open it through power bi

[Heenasaini]

Thanks, This does not work as i need this file to be opened first in order to convert into pbit.

[Heenasaini]

I managed to change it into pbit however it opened a new file of power bi in desktop but gave me the same error.

[v-prasare]

Hi @Heenasaini, If you're using the latest Power BI Desktop, try opening the file in an older or newer version. Sometimes version mismatches cause corruption issues.

Thanks,

Prashanth Are

[Heenasaini]

I tried but not working so far however i can see Datamodel or reort/layout folders but still not helping.

[andrewsommer]

1. Check for Shadow or Temporary Files

• Look in the same folder as the .pbix file for files like:
• ~$<filename>.pbix
• AutoRecovery.save.pbix
• If you find a similarly named file (or one with a recent modified timestamp), try opening it.

1. Restore from OneDrive/SharePoint/Windows File History

• If the file was stored on OneDrive, SharePoint, or a synced folder:
• Right-click > Version History (Windows Explorer or browser)
• If on a local machine, check Windows' File History or Previous Versions tab.

1. Try Renaming to .zip and Extracting

• Copy the file and rename .pbix to .zip
• Try extracting it using 7-Zip or WinRAR.
• If the archive opens, check if it contains the DataModel or Report/Layout folders.
• If you can extract Layout (JSON) and visuals, you may be able to reconstruct the report manually.
• If the DataModel is corrupted, the data portion is likely unrecoverable.

Please mark this post as solution if it helps you. Appreciate Kudos.