Excel Compatibility Issues - PC/Mac

[showgie]

Hi!

Our office is having an issue exchangint Excel files between the Mac
and PC users.

Recently an issue has developed where the PC users can open and use
Excel files, but the Mac users cannot open them at all. They get this
message:

"The file might have been damaged or modified from its original
format."

We have tried:
Saving it as .xls
Moving it via flash drive instead of email.
Moving it via a network location.

We also tried copying and pasting the contents into a new document,
and removing all the links. That worked... for a while. Today, when
trying to copy and paste the contents into Excel the paste option
popped up as "paste MS Office Word Doc Object".

Now a user is reporting they are trying to use files they created on
the Mac and that have only been used by Mac users, they're still
getting the error - but it opens on my PC.

Any ideas? Where to start?

 

[John_McGhie_[MVP]]

No idea where to start at all, until you tell us which versions of Excel you
have in use, and what update level they are at.

This information is essential: nobody can answer this question until you
tell us that.

That error message simply means "The file you offered is not in a format I
can read". What format is the file in? And how did it get that way?

I also need to know "how" you are trying to open the files. And what
happens when you start Excel and use File>Open... To open the files?

What file format are you emailing in? If you are using Apple Mail, see the
help topic "If Windows users have trouble with your attachments"

Basically, there aren't any "compatibility problems between the PC and the
Mac". But there are settings the user can get wrong on either end that will
prevent communication

Hope this helps

Hi!

Our office is having an issue exchangint Excel files between the Mac
and PC users.

Recently an issue has developed where the PC users can open and use
Excel files, but the Mac users cannot open them at all. They get this
message:

"The file might have been damaged or modified from its original
format."

We have tried:
Saving it as .xls
Moving it via flash drive instead of email.
Moving it via a network location.

We also tried copying and pasting the contents into a new document,
and removing all the links. That worked... for a while. Today, when
trying to copy and paste the contents into Excel the paste option
popped up as "paste MS Office Word Doc Object".

Now a user is reporting they are trying to use files they created on
the Mac and that have only been used by Mac users, they're still
getting the error - but it opens on my PC.

Any ideas? Where to start?

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]