Share via

Excel files won't open on Mac excel

Anonymous
2020-04-02T14:52:23+00:00

hi,

how come I can't open an excel file on Mac? 

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

7 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  3. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-04-02T15:00:17+00:00

    Hi

    It depends on what update of Excel you have which features are supported. You posted to the Office 365 forum. Go to the Excel menu and choose About Excel. Your license type should say "Office 365 Subscription" and the version should be 16.35 or newer.

    If your installation meets these requirements, the message means that the workbook contains Active-X controls. These are open-source controls that are not supported on Mac. Ask the workbook provider to use Excel controls instead of Active-X controls so that the workbook will work cross-platform.

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-02T15:15:28+00:00

    Hi,

    thanks for the quick response, here is the excel version I am using on the Mac;

    if I'm not mistaken it meets the standards right?

    Using excel controls is a way of saving the file? How do I do this?

    Thanks!

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2020-04-08T12:14:44+00:00

    Hi Avb103,

    Thanks for posting back.

    According to your description, we would like suggest you to open the problematic Excel file in Excel for Web and check whether if it works there.

    This error occurs due to some features that works in Windows are not supported in Mac.

    As Jim explains, if the issue might be caused by Active-X controls which are not supported on Mac, since you are not the owner of this file and don’t know which parts of content use Active-X, we also suggest you contact the owner to remove Active-X controls. Also, you could open and edit it in Windows or host a virtual Windows desktop in Mac to edit.

    Appreciate your understanding and patient.

    Regards,

    George

    0 comments