What Is an Excel Validator?
An Excel Validator is a specialized spreadsheet auditing tool designed to inspect Excel workbooks (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm) for structural defects, broken formula references (such as #REF! or #DIV/0!), column data type inconsistencies, merged cell conflicts, and hidden content. Unlike basic spreadsheet viewers that simply open files, an Excel validator audits internal cell dependencies and data quality metrics to ensure your spreadsheets are production-ready.
Key Spreadsheet Quality Checks Performed
Formula & #REF! Audit
Scans all formula cells across every worksheet, detecting broken cell references, division by zero, invalid range lookups, and hard-coded values replacing formula columns.
Mixed Data Type Detection
Analyzes individual table columns to ensure data type homogeneity. Flags numeric columns containing unexpected text entries (e.g. "Unknown" inside an Age column).
Merged Cell & Header Structure
Identifies merged cells that span data records or interrupt tabular headers, as well as missing or duplicate column headers across worksheets.
Understanding Issue Severities: Error vs Warning vs Info
To prevent false alarms, issues are classified into three strict severity tiers:
- ERROR (Red): Objectively broken spreadsheet conditions, such as
#REF!cell errors, broken formula expressions, or missing headers in tabular data. - WARNING (Yellow): Potentially problematic structural anomalies, such as mixed data types in numeric columns, merged cells within data tables, or blank worksheets.
- INFO (Blue): Useful structural observations that may be intentional, such as hidden worksheets or leading/trailing whitespace in text entries.
Privacy & Client-Side Security Guarantee
All Excel spreadsheet parsing, sheet inspection, formula evaluation, and quality auditing execute 100% locally within your client browser memory using WebAssembly and JavaScript. No workbook content, cell values, or sensitive business metrics are ever transmitted to any external server. For macro-enabled files (.xlsm), VBA macros are never executed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Are my Excel files uploaded to any server?
No. Processing happens 100% locally inside your web browser. Your spreadsheet data is never uploaded, logged, or saved anywhere outside your local memory.
Are VBA macros executed when validating .xlsm files?
No. Macro code (VBA) is completely ignored and never executed for security reasons. Your original file remains untouched.
How is the Workbook Validation Score calculated?
The score starts at 100 and deducts points based on verified findings: 15 points per formula error (#REF!, #DIV/0!), 10 points per data type mismatch in data columns, 5 points per blank sheet or duplicate header, and 2 points per warning.