More than “the ZIP opens”
A DOCX, XLSX or PPTX can be a technically valid ZIP and still be unusable in Office. After rebuilding the container, MakeFileWork checks for [Content_Types].xml, the package relationship file, and the application-specific main part: word/document.xml, xl/workbook.xml or ppt/presentation.xml.
What the confidence check verifies
The validator confirms that the required parts exist, that content types declare the expected main Office document, that package relationships point to that main part, and that the recovered main XML contains the expected document root element. It also checks application-level evidence: worksheet references in Excel, slide references in PowerPoint, and internal document relationships plus paragraph/text-run counts in Word. Passing these checks provides structural evidence, including ZIP header consistency and CRC32 verification of the inspected Office XML. It does not verify opening in Microsoft Office or guarantee that every optional image, chart, style or feature survived.
Partial recovery stays explicit
If a damaged ZIP entry can be skipped safely, MakeFileWork can keep later verified entries instead of discarding the whole document. For XLSX and PPTX, when a worksheet or slide is already proven missing, MakeFileWork can remove only that dead manifest reference and its dangling relationship. For DOCX, it can also prune missing optional image, header, footer, hyperlink or embedded-object references when the corresponding XML can be removed safely while preserving the main document text. It never invents lost Office content. If the remaining package still fails the Office checks, the result stays partial or incomplete.
Checking hidden Office dependencies
The structural check now walks relationship files throughout the package, not just the main Word, Excel or PowerPoint document. It flags missing images, drawings, charts and other linked parts even when ZIP CRC32 is valid. Duplicate relationship IDs, broken source parts, ambiguous encoded paths and relationships escaping the archive are not certified as successful recovery. Legitimate external hyperlinks are not fetched or followed. A structural pass still does not prove that Microsoft Office will open the file.
Privacy
This recovery and structural validation runs locally in the browser in the current workflow. The document is not uploaded for these checks.
Recovery evidence before download: repaired Word files can show recovered text and paragraph counts; Excel files can show worksheet names plus a bounded sample of recovered cell values; PowerPoint files can show slide-by-slide text excerpts. Every preview is generated locally in the browser and is not uploaded.