Mac Excel 2016 error when opening valid XML file

Question

I have been opening a particular XML file for years using Windows and Excel 2013. My new Mac Excel 2016 generates the following error...  "The file you are trying to open is not a valid Excel XML Spreadsheet".

I'm dyin' here.

TIA.

Greg

PS: Windows Excel 2013 still opens it just fine.

Answer 1

"deal-killers"? Are you referring to features available in the Windows versions that still are not provided in the Mac O2016? Or are you referring to previously available Mac Excel features that have been dumped in order to make room for the new capabilities that haven't [yet?] been added? Either list probably is too long to be posted here :-)

Answer 2

Hi,

I have the very same problem but.... the XML files (generated by a server) were (and are) ok if opened with Office Mac v14 and all the other Windows Office versions.

Any hints on what changed with Office 2016 (15.3.1) ?

Kind regards

A

Answer 3

Same here. A completely well formatted XML file that works in any Mac previous O2016 Excel version but doesn't on 2016...

Answer 4

Wow. Still staring blankly at my monitor. Hard to absorb. Thanks for the clear answer, albeit it unpleasant.

Any other deal-killers come to your mind? Things on which Mac Office 2016 falls short?

Thanks again.

Answer 5

If the file actually is saved as file type Excel 2004 XML Spreadsheetor XML Spreadsheet 2003, there should be no problem. Files of that type use a built-in standardized schema supported in all Mac/PC versions from [IIRC] Office 2003 forward.

However, if it's saved as an XML Data file involving the use of the XML tools found on the Developer tab of the Windows versions & the XML Source Task Pane, Mac Excel cannot work with it. Mac Office never has been equipped with true XML capability, nor have those tools been added in O2016.