Associating Excel 2016 with .xml files

Question

In Excel 2010, I was able to associate .xml files with Excel by going to the control panel entitled "Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program," and browsing to the Program Files directory containing "EXCEL.EXE."  This doesn't work in Excel 2016.  How can I do this in Excel 2016?

Answer 1

I found a solution here...

I can't open an xml file with excel.

Here is the resolution:

I had to delete [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts.xml] and all subkeys.  

After that, I went through the "Open with..." dialog and I was able to successfully associate .xml with Excel.

Answer 2

Hi,

Let’s refer to the steps below to associate XML file with Excel 2016 and see if it helps.

Right-click any .xml file > then select "Open With" > Then, on the dialog box click "Choose default program" > on the next dialog box, use the Browse button to find the Excel executable file (EXCEL.EXE) inside the location "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16" or the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE16" folder (depending on it you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Excel) and select it > Then put a check mark in the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" > click the OK button and verify the result.

Hope it helps. Try the suggestion and let us know the result at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.

I tried the steps you recommended, and it did not work.  Here are the steps I did:

I found the directory containing Excel.exe via the shortcut.  I copied that directory to my clipboard.

Then I right-clicked on my xml file, clicked on “Open with” and then “Choose default program…”

I clicked on Browse…

I pasted in the Office16 directory, clicked on EXCEL.EXE, then Open.

When I clicked Open, it took me back to the Open with dialog with no change.  And the xml files are still not associated with Excel.exe

Answer 3

Hi Prabhavathi Patil, I believe is well known these steps don't work, that's the reason why this posted exists, I already tried them and many other, no luck so far :(

why does microsoft make it so complicated?, a lot of people still uses xml files.

Answer 4

Hi,

Before we proceed, I would require more information to assist you better.

1. What happens when you try to perform file association from Control Panel as mentioned in the initial post, do you get any error message? If yes, what is the complete error message?
2. Does this issue specific to Excel? What happens when you try to perform file association with other Office applications?

Please get back to us with necessary information, we’ll be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

Answer 5

Hi,

Let’s refer to the steps below to associate XML file with Excel 2016 and see if it helps.

Right-click any .xml file > then select "Open With" > Then, on the dialog box click "Choose default program" > on the next dialog box, use the Browse button to find the Excel executable file (EXCEL.EXE) inside the location "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16" or the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE16" folder (depending on it you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Excel) and select it > Then put a check mark in the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" > click the OK button and verify the result.

Hope it helps. Try the suggestion and let us know the result at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.