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Compatibility issues between Office 365 and Excel 2013 with SQL Server Data Connection

Anonymous
2020-03-02T20:58:52+00:00

I connected an Excel spreadsheet to a SQL Server Database on Office 365 and it worked correctly (I can update the table and get the last data from SQL). The problem is that when I open the same file on Excel 2013 I can't update the table, it throws an error with the initialization of the data origin. How can I solve this?

Thanks in advance!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2020-03-04T09:11:34+00:00

Hi sfgarciav,

Thanks for your response, I did some research and I’d like to share with you.

 When we connect to a data source, Excel will create a query, based on this article: Import data from external data sources (Power Query)

 

In Excel 2013, we need to enable the Power Query add-in to connect to external data source.

 

However, staring from Excel 2016, the Power Query add-in is no longer an add-in, it comes installed called “Get & Transform”, although “It works mostly the same as Power Query”, they are still part different, and there may be incompatibilities.

You can go to Excel 365 > File > Info > Inspect Workbook > Check Compatibilities > set the version to Excel 2013 to check if there is any warning or error.

 

Also, you can try to create a new workbook and a new connection using Excel 2013, save it and then you can open it using Excel 365 to check if it can work properly.

Hope the above information can give you some guidance and help.

Best Regards,

Arck

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-04T22:47:02+00:00

    Hi sfgarciav,

    I’m glad to hear the problem has been solved, you are welcome to post back in this community if you have any problems with Office 365 in the future, we are always willing to help you.

    Best Regards,

    Arck

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-04T19:56:40+00:00

    I checked for compatibility and indeed Power Query was causing the problem. I updated Power Query in Excel 2013 and the issue was solved, thank you very much!

    Kind regards,

    Sebastian

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-03T12:56:09+00:00

    Hi Arck, both Excel 2013 and 365 support connecting to a SQL Server Database. This is how I connect to SQL Server with Excel 365 (it's in spanish):

    And this is how I connect to SQL Server with Excel 2013:

    When I make a connection to SQL Server in Excel 365 and then I try to update the table in Excel 2013, I get this error message:

    Now, I'll answer your questions:

    1. Yes, all files created with Excel 365 have this problem.
    2. I use think-cell, and Excel and Powerpoint add-in that has never caused any kind of problem like this.

    I have Office 365 version 1902 (compilation 11328.20480).

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-03-03T05:04:29+00:00

    Hi sfgarciav,

    Thanks for posting in the community, I’m glad to offer help here.

    Since the file works normally using Excel 365 but can’t work properly using Excel 2013, please check if there are any features in the file that may not be supported in Excel 2013.

    Besides, to better narrow down the cause, please provide the following information:

    1.    Whether all files created with Office 365 have this problem?

    2.    Do you use any 3^rd^- party add-ins in the file?

    3.    The screenshot of the error message.

    Please feel free to give feedback if there is any progress.

    Best Regards,

    Arck

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