Can't read OO files that got converted to LibreOffice

[seasharp]

I exported many Open Office spreadsheet files last year which somehow have now been converted to Libre Office files which are unreadable. Everything is crammed into the top line and it looks like gibberish. I don't remember converting any files, but they show in my download folder as Libre Office files. Is there any way to convert them back to Open Office so that I can read them in English?

Here is a sample of what is displayed - can anyone help?

Ⱜ倢敲楶畯⁳慂慬据≥Ⱜ⸰〰ਬ〱㌯⼰〲㌱〬〰ⰱ匢汹楶⁡畃汲Ⱒ⸰〰〮〬ⰰㄊ⼰ㄳ㈯㄰ⰳ㘶㜹∬祓癬慩䌠牵≬⴬〵⸰〰⴬〵⸰〰ਬ㈱㈯⼳〲㌱㘬㌷ⰵ唢灰牥删潯≭⴬㔱㜮ⰵ㔭㔱㜮ⰵㄊ⼲㌲㈯㄰ⰳ㜶㘳∬桐汩匠整湲牥Ⱒ㈭⸹㌱⴬㐵⸴㠸ਬ㈱㈯⼵〲㌱㘬㐷ⰲ倢污敭❲⁳汅捥牴湯捩⁳愦灭※灁汰慩据獥Ⱒ㌭㜵㜮ⰳ㤭㈰㘮ⰱㄊ⼲〳㈯㄰ⰳ㜶㌵∬牄‮牆湡捓牵祲Ⱒㄭ〰〮ⰰⴢⰱ〰⸲ㄶⰢㄊ⼲ㄳ㈯㄰ⰳ∬慂歮戠污湡散ㄠ⼲ㄳㄯ∳∬〱㤬㌴㌮∴∬ⰹ㐹⸰㌷Ⱒ《⼱㈰㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㔴∬⁌潄摷≹⴬〱⸰〰∬ⰹ㐸⸰㌷Ⱒ《⼱㘰㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㘴∬敃瑮牵⁹楌歮Ⱒㄭㄳ㘮ⰳ㤢㜬㤰ㄮ∰ਬ㄰〯⼶〲㐱㘬㐷ⰷ倢匠整湲牥Ⱒㄭ⸱㤱∬ⰹ㤶⸷ㄹⰢ《⼱㤰㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㠴∬⁌潄摷≹⴬㈱⸰〰∬ⰹ㜵⸷ㄹⰢ《⼱㈱㈯㄰ⰴ䕄ⱐ䜢癩湩⁧捓敲湥䐠灥獯瑩Ⱒ㌢ㄬ〵㘮∴∬㈱㜬㠲㔮∵ਬ㄰ㄯ⼳〲㐱㘬㐷ⰹ倢畡潒牤杩敵≺⴬㔴⸰〰∬㈱㈬㠷㔮∵ਬ㄰ㄯ⼳〲㐱㘬㔷ⰰ䉂ⱔ㐭⸱㜰∬㈱㈬㜳㐮∸ਬ㄰ㄯ⼵〲㐱㘬㔷ⰲ䨢浡獥䠠杩瑨Ⱒⴢⰳ㐰⸷〹Ⱒ㤢ㄬ㤸㔮∸ਬ㄰ㄯ⼶〲㐱㘬㔷ⰱ䰢䐠睯祤Ⱒㄭ〱〮ⰰ㤢〬㤷㔮∸ਬ㄰ㄯ⼹〲㐱䐬偅∬楇楶杮匠牣敥敄潰楳≴∬ⰳ㈴⸵㐶Ⱒㄢⰲ〵⸵㈲Ⱒ《⼱〲㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㔵∬瑓湡匠牴湯≧〮〬ⰰㄢⰲ〵⸵㈲Ⱒ《⼱〲㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㘵䄬偅⴬㌲⸶㜶∬㈱㈬㠶㔮∵〬ㄲ〭㌰㤭㘰ㄭ㈭《⼱㌲㈯㄰ⰴ㜶㐵∬⁌潄摷≹⴬ㄱ⸰〰∬㈱ㄬ㠵㔮∵ਬ㄰㈯⼶〲㐱䐬偅∬楇楶杮匠牣敥敄潰楳≴㔬㔳〮ⰰㄢⰲ㤶⸳㔵Ⱒ《⼱㠲㈯㄰ⰴㄵⰶ䌢䍃传数慲楴杮䘠湵≤∬ⰱ㔱⸰〰Ⱒㄢⰳ㐸⸳㔵Ⱒ昢潲桴⁥瑓牯⁹畦摮湩≧《⼱㠲㈯㄰ⰴ剔ⱘ䴢浥牯慩桃

[RusselB]

You stated that you exported the spreadsheets... into what format did you export them to?
Both Open Office and Libre Office use the Open Document Format by default (.ods extension for spreadsheets)
Are you getting a text import dialog? If so, try changing the language option until you see something in the preview screen that looks correct.

What you have posted looks like a file that has been saved using one of the Asian languages (eg: Chinese or Japenese).
If the file doesn't contain confidential information, you might consider uploading it to the forum (note there is a 128k maximum file size).

[esperantisto]

What you have posted looks like a file that has been saved using one of the Asian languages (eg: Chinese or Japenese).

Not, it is not, it is just garbage that, very probably, indicates a corrupted file. But in order to be sure, one needs to see, yes, the actual file.

[floris v]

Open such a file in Notepad. If it doesn't start with the letters "PK", it's corrupted.

When you install new software, it never converts any files on your system to any other format, unless it's a virus or ransomware. When you install LibreOffice, it will modify the list of default programs to open all files that can be edited with OpenOffice or LibreOffice, like the ODF format and also the MS office formats. It simply tells Windows to open such files with Libre, it doesn't change the files themselves.

[Bill]

I exported many Open Office spreadsheet files last year which somehow have now been converted to Libre Office files which are unreadable. Everything is crammed into the top line and it looks like gibberish. I don't remember converting any files, but they show in my download folder as Libre Office files. Is there any way to convert them back to Open Office so that I can read them in English?

I don't understand what you actually did. The Downloads folder is the destination for files imported from the Internet. Did you actually import instead of export the files? If you did export the files, then you had to specify a file format. What was the format? Also, your signature says that you're using OpenOffice. Are you actually using LibreOffice? I don't know why any files on your computer would be shown as "LibreOffice" files if you haven't installed LibreOffice.