Excel Data Types Not Working

Question

Updated 12/19/2022

Data Types are currently not working as expected for all users of Microsoft Excel. The work-around I recommend is to revert to version 16.64.

If you are affected and haven't already done so, please take a moment to notify Microsoft that you are affected by this problem. The way to do it is to use the Menu Bar and choose Help > Feedback > I Don't Like Something. Microsoft uses the Squeaky Wheel method to prioritize bug fixes. The more reports, the higher up the priority list the bug gets. Please do this from the current update of Excel before reverting to 16.64.

To revert to version 16.64:

Use the Menu Bar and choose Help > Check for Updates to launch AutoUpdate

In AutoUpdate, set updates to Manual to prevent AutoUpdate from automatically updating after you revert to the older build.

In Finder, navigate to the Applications folder

Right-click on Microsoft Excel.app and choose Move to Trash

Restart your Mac

Empty the Mac OS Trash

Use this installer to install build 16.64 of Microsoft Excel: Excel

Some users may be able to find a work-around, which is why I am posting this discussion. Some users will be blocked from this due to licensing or IT department restrictions.

There are third-party solutions available. I don't know which ones are great and which ones are less good. I'm hoping people will try them out and reply here with their results and recommendations.

On the Insert tab of the Ribbon choose Add-ins > Get Add-ins.

In the resulting dialog enter the word Stock in the Search field then click the spyglass icon. There are a lot of add-ins available. Let's chat about them in this thread.

Answer 1

Reverting to 16.64 did not resolve this problem for me but attempting to do so fixed it. Here's all of the steps I took including the important deviation that made a huge difference.

1. Launch Auto Update and Disable Automatic Updates
2. Use UninstallPKG to remove the Microsoft Excel package.
   • When uninstalling a package there is an advanced options setting. I have all of these on which removes preferences and attempts to remove any directories created by the package so that nothing is left behind. I think this setting was key to resolving the issue.
3. Installed the 16.64 from the download link in your post.
4. Opening the Excel file with 16.64 still gave me the error message about being unable to update the stocks, so I gave up and ...
5. Used the Auto Update Tool to upgrade to the latest version.
6. When I opened the Excel file with 16.69 the problem was gone.

I don't know exactly what I did to fix it but I highlighted the step that might have made the most difference. I'm not really sure why this didn't fix it for 16.64 as well but since I no longer have the problem I cannot test it further. Hopefully this helps someone resolve it and we can narrow down a set of minimal steps to fix it.

But does 16.69 continue to work correctly after exiting the program and then reopening it? Because I found that I could get it to work but it broke again after exiting. On the other hand, I found that 16.64 did NOT work initially but after I exited and then reopened it began to work properly and has continued to work properly with multiple exits and reopenings. Very strange.

Answer 2

Thanks so much for sharing this Michael. I wasn't familiar with that the UninstallPKG app!

Have you tried to quit Excel 16.69, re-open, and re-test for the error message using a data type?

I just followed your steps, and sure it works like usual on the first open, but upon quitting Excel 16.69 and re-opening Excel 16.69, from the second open onwards, I still get the same error message.

Similarly, when you reverted back to Excel 16.64, did you quit Excel 16.64, re-open Excel 16.64 a second time, and test data types from the second open onwards? That's what it takes for me. Getting the error message or not getting the error message sort of reaches a steady stage from my second open of the Excel app onwards, regardless of the version. 16.64 remains the only version that reliably works for me from the second open onwards.

Here are exactly my steps to try to replicate yours:

1. Downloaded UninstallPKG, and moved it to the Applications folder upon their helpful dialogue message on the first open.
2. I noticed that didn't actually remove Excel from my Applications folder. So I moved Excel app to the trash, emptied my trash, re-ran UninstallPKG to make sure it didn't find any Excel residue.
3. Being further paranoid, I restarted my Mac and did Step 2 above all over again just to make sure.
4. Installed Excel 16.69 from here.
5. I noticed that opened up Autoupdater to update Excel from 16.69 to 16.69 (23010700). I wanted to test both, so I did not update just yet.
6. I opened Excel 16.69. Did my standard test (enter "MSFT" into cell A1, select 'Stock' data type, enter "A1.Price" in another cell) and that worked on the first try.
7. I quit Excel 16.69, re-opened Excel 16.69, and it failed. I got the same error message.
8. I then re-ran Autoupdater to get the latest Excel 16.69 (23010700) even though I thought I had originally got the latest from Step 4.
9. I re-did step 6. But I still got the same error message.

So just to confirm, are you running Mac OS X Ventura 13 or 13.1? And did you try to quit Excel 16.69 and re-open and see if it still works?

Answer 3

Yes, exactly the same experience here.

Answer 4

I am not sure I would trust the uninstall at the link from a previous post, it says use at your own risk and it is not supported.

I have done a similar process, deleting all Office 365 using this Microsoft link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uninstall-office-for-mac-eefa1199-5b58-43af-8a3d-b73dc1a8cae3

Yes, I can get it to work for a while by removing everything, downloading a new version. It doesn't really matter which version. It will work for a while after the fresh install, but eventually reverts to the problem. This could happen after exit/restart of Excel, or a software update, or maybe even just suddenly on its own. I did get it working for a few months even, using this technique. But as we know it has surfaced again, big time.

Removing and reinstalling is NOT a solution. It is a temporary and tedious workaround. Might be ok, if it was a one-time thing, but it does not appear to be the case.

I have also been very frustrated by MS support. I started 2 new cases (besides the one last summer that got Tier 3 support and I working on it for months!), with no results. Call backs that never happen, despite promises from tech support. Transfers to next level that get dropped, or transfer to a group that is outside their working hours. Then I get busy with something else...can't take hours and hours to get them to respond and work on this. You have all been there, I suppose.

ANYONE from Microsoft listening to all this on the thread!!!??? Hello???

Answer 5

I am not sure I would trust the uninstall at the link from a previous post, it says use at your own risk and it is not supported.

I have done a similar process, deleting all Office 365 using this Microsoft link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uninstall-office-for-mac-eefa1199-5b58-43af-8a3d-b73dc1a8cae3

Yes, I can get it to work for a while by removing everything, downloading a new version. It doesn't really matter which version. It will work for a while after the fresh install, but eventually reverts to the problem. This could happen after exit/restart of Excel, or a software update, or maybe even just suddenly on its own. I did get it working for a few months even, using this technique. But as we know it has surfaced again, big time.

Removing and reinstalling is NOT a solution. It is a temporary and tedious workaround. Might be ok, if it was a one-time thing, but it does not appear to be the case.

I have also been very frustrated by MS support. I started 2 new cases (besides the one last summer that got Tier 3 support and I working on it for months!), with no results. Call backs that never happen, despite promises from tech support. Transfers to next level that get dropped, or transfer to a group that is outside their working hours. Then I get busy with something else...can't take hours and hours to get them to respond and work on this. You have all been there, I suppose.

ANYONE from Microsoft listening to all this on the thread!!!??? Hello???