Created attachment 32789 [details] Problem file Attempt to open the file attached results in the following exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected record type (org.apache.poi.hssf.record.StringRecord) at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.RowRecordsAggregate.<init>(RowRecordsAggregate.java:97) at org.apache.poi.hssf.model.InternalSheet.<init>(InternalSheet.java:166) at org.apache.poi.hssf.model.InternalSheet.createSheet(InternalSheet.java:121) at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>(HSSFWorkbook.java:311) at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>(HSSFWorkbook.java:264) at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>(HSSFWorkbook.java:199) at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>(HSSFWorkbook.java:342) at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>(HSSFWorkbook.java:323) Excel opens the file fine. Also, if you open it in Excel and save it without any explicit changes, POI will read it fine too.