Why is my student's activity log file damaged?

If you export a student’s activity log (session log report) on systeme.io and the downloaded .xls file is damaged or cannot be opened correctly in Excel, there is almost always one simple cause.

Here is the full explanation and the solution.

Why the file is damaged

The student activity log is exported in the old .xls format. This format does not support special characters, especially:

• Emojis (🔥 💡 🎓 🚀 etc.)
• Special symbols (© ® ™ ✓ ✗ ★ etc.)
• Some unusual accented or extended characters

When Excel tries to open a file that contains these characters in the course title, module title, or lecture title, it cannot interpret them correctly and shows an error message saying the file is damaged or corrupted.

This is a limitation of the .xls format, not a bug of systeme.io.

How to fix it

To solve the problem permanently:

1. Go to your course and check the titles of:
   • The course itself
   • Every module
   • Every lecture
2. Remove all emojis and special characters from those titles.
3. Save the changes.

Once the titles are clean (plain text only), the export will work perfectly.

How to re-export the activity log

After cleaning the titles:

1. Go to Assets → Courses → Students
2. Open the student profile by clicking their email
3. In the Enrollments section, click the three dots next to the course
4. Select Export session log report
5. Choose the period and click Download

The new file should open without any error in Excel.

You can learn more about exporting the log here: How to export a student's session log.

Best practice recommendation

As a general rule on systeme.io, avoid using emojis or special characters in the titles of:

• Courses
• Modules
• Lectures

Keep titles clean and professional. You can still use emojis in the content of the lectures, descriptions, or emails — just not in the official titles that appear in the export.

Conclusion

The damaged activity log file is almost always caused by special characters or emojis in your course, module or lecture titles. Because the export uses the .xls format, Excel cannot handle these characters and reports the file as damaged.

Simply clean the titles, re-export the log, and the problem disappears.

Follow this best practice and you will never have issues with student activity reports on systeme.io.

Related articles

• How to export a student's session log
• How to create a course using systeme.io
• How to modify a course's information
• How to manually add students to a course
• How to remove a student