Excel Comments not displaying properly

Question

Hi I use a MacOS  version :High Sierra 10.13.3. I recently upgraded my Excel for Mac and have version 16.9.  For some reason all the Comments I have previously written on Excel spreadsheets when I view them they come up as code and don't display in words. How do I fix this  as I need to read these comments in words not computer code? THANK YOU

Answer 1

Hi Maree,

For troubleshooting purpose, I use Excel for Windows to check the two .xls workbooks you provided.

Here’s the result:

For the workbook having no issue, when I go to File > Check for Issues > Check compatibility, it shows “no compatibility issues were found”.

For the workbook having the messy code issue. It shows that “Some cells or styles in this workbook contain formatting that is not supported by the selected file format. These formats will be converted to the closest format available”.

I notice that the two workbooks are all .xls format. Have they ever been converted from another format to .xls? Are there any specific format or styles used in the spreadsheet? But these are all the things I am thinking of the cause of the issue. It seems that the spreadsheet has been damaged for some reason. There may not be easy to repair them. So, how can you get the work well spreadsheet back? If you have any copy of them from your colleagues or organization server, can you get all them back?

Thanks,

Rena

Answer 2

Hi Maree,

You can post back anytime when you are free. 

Thanks,

Rena

Answer 3

HI Rena, I am back on land with constant internet.

I went through all the steps you suggest and nothing has changed . the problem is still there all past inserted comments appear as code rather then words.

I have not yet attemped Jum's suggestion of joining 16.10 or 16.11 group.

Would you be available to maybe  screen share/remote desktop  trouble shot online.

☺️cheers maree

Answer 4

Hi Maree,

Thanks for replying. 16.10 has fixed several known issues. I suggest you take Jim's suggestion to upgrade to 16.10 to see if there's any changes.

You can also try the steps below: 

1. You can also try to create a new Mac user profile to see the result if the issue still happens to 16.10.
2. If you have ever set the Time Machine backup, try to restore items (the workbooks) to see if this can be helpful.

There.

3. As the issue doesn't  happen to a new created workbook, try to copy and paste the content from old ones to new ones to see the result.

And, do you use any specific fonts in the comments? Recently, we have some font known issues.

In the meantime, I appreciate your understanding that we reply threads but not phone/remote desk support in community forum.

Thanks,

Rena

Answer 5

Thanks Rena for all your suggestions

• I have tried all of your above suggestions
• I am now running excel 16.10
• The problem still exist  - all comments appear in code rather then words on any spreadsheet that I had created from April 2017 up till now.
• I don't specify the font just use Arial 12 (which I thought was the default font)

Not sure what the next step is.

I know I can create new spreadsheets which is great for future work however I can't read the comments on any that I created since April 2017.

Is there any where I else I can go to solve this issue?Is there any where I can get Microsoft remote online help? . ☺️cheers maree