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 also see the code by my side whatever I use 15.41 or 16.10 version. I tried the Mac safe boot, but the code persists. You mentioned that the code issue doesn’t appear in Mac safe boot by your side? I would like to confirm again about this.

And from your description, the issue only happens to the workbook created from Apr 2017 – Feb 2018, if they work well in safe boot by your side, please check if you can restore the data in the safe boot.

If you check again that the issue also persists in Mac safe boot, I assume the workbooks may be damaged for some reason. I suggested to use Mac Time Machine to restore the items, is it still not working?

Thanks,

Rena

Answer 3

HI Rena when I checked in Safe boot mode it was exactly the same  - comments came up in code in worksheets that were created between april 2017 - Feb 2018

I can't restore to time machine as I have been travelling for the past 5 mths and did not have access to time machine.

☺️cheers maree