I have 1 particular excel file that won’t open on my MacBook, but opens on my iPad.

Question

I have 1 particular Excel file that won’t open on my MacBook but opens on my IPad.

Answer 1

hi bart, welcome in community

follow these steps:

first, confirm how you’re opening it, try each of these methods:

• Open Excel first → File → Open → Browse → select the file

Drag the file directly onto the Excel icon in the Dock

If it’s in iCloud Drive, download it locally first and then open it

Sometimes iCloud, OneDrive, or SharePoint placeholders (files not fully downloaded) cause Excel on Mac to show “file can’t be opened” or “corrupt file” messages.

Check the file name and extension

Make sure the file:

Has an actual .xlsx or .xls extension

Doesn’t include special characters like /, \, :, or ? in the name

Isn’t stored in a path that’s too long (Excel for Mac can have issues with nested folders in iCloud or OneDrive)

You can rename it to something simple like Test.xlsx on your iPad, then try opening that version on the Mac.

Then try repairing or converting the file, since it opens on your iPad:

Open it there and Save a Copy → choose Save As → .xlsx (even if it already is).

Email or AirDrop that new copy to your Mac.

Try opening that version.

You can also open it in:

Excel Online (https://www.office.com)

Google Sheets

Then download again as .xlsx. This can clean out hidden corruption.

let me know how it goes

Elvis