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,

I still have 15.41 version on my Mac. You can upload 1 example workbook to me, I will check if I can view the comments well in 15.41. If so, at least we can have another workaround (despite of Mac safe boot) before the issue fix. To protect your privacy, I have sent you a private message to collect them. Please access it via this link. For the remote support, I will also reply you in the private message.

Thanks,

Rena

Answer 3

Hi Rena, for some reason this link to private message comes up blank wiht no message.

I did notice that it went to my other email address. Perhaps you could  cut and paste your message  and send it through to m*@***.au.  this is the email I use to log into  my  microsoft email account. 

thank you  maree

Answer 4

Hi Maree,

I have sent to you. Please check if you have received the private message.

Thanks,

Rena