Symptoms
When you start Microsoft Excel for Mac or try to open a new Excel workbook, you experience one of the following issues:
- The Excel Viewer can open the latest version of Excel workbooks, but it will not display newer features. More Information. The Microsoft Excel Viewer is the latest version of the viewer. It can read the file formats of all versions of Excel, and it replaces the Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003. Other options for free viewing of Excel workbooks.
- Microsoft Office Excel Alternatives for Mac. There are many alternatives to Microsoft Office Excel for Mac if you are looking to replace it. The most popular Mac alternative is LibreOffice - Calc, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Microsoft Office Excel and many of.
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The program closes unexpectedly.
You receive an error message that resembles the following:
The application Microsoft Excel quit unexpectedly. Mac OS X and other applications are not affected. Click relaunch to launch the application again. Click report to see more details or send a report to Apple
Resolution
To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods, depending on your version of Office for Mac.
Excel 2016 for Mac
Step 1: Quit all programs and close all windows
On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.
Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.
Note You cannot quit Finder.Click Force Quit.
Repeat steps A through C for all the applications that are causing issues until you exit all active applications.
Step 2: Remove Excel preferences and Office settings
Make sure that all Microsoft Office for Mac programs are closed.
On the Go menu, open the root/hidden Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in Mac OSX Yosemite. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Group Containers folder.
Look for a folder whose name ends '.Office,' and open it.
In this folder, look for the Com.microsoft.officeprefs.plist file.
Delete this file by dragging it to the trash. This will delete the Office preferences that you set during the initial start of the application.
Restart the application, and check whether the issue is resolved. If the issue is not resolved, delete the whole folder that you found in step D. This will delete all previous settings and preferences that were set across all applications.
Note This will reset Office back to the first-run phase of initial set up. It will also re-create a folder in the ~/Library/Group Containers location.
Step 3: Perform a clean restart
For information how to clean start your Operating system (OS), see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398596 Perform a clean startup (safe mode) to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office
For information how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following office website:
How to download and install or uninstall Office 2016 for Mac
If the issue continues to occur in safe mode, go to the next step.
Step 5: Use the 'Repair Disk Permissions' feature
You can use the Repair Disk Permissions feature to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions feature, follow these steps:
On the Go menu, click Utilities.
Start the Disk Utility program.
Click the primary hard disk drive for your computer.
On the First Aid tab, click Repair Disk Permissions.
Note The Disk Utility program repairs only software that is installed by Apple. This utility also repairs folders, such as the Applications folder. However, this utility does not repair software that is in your home folder. For more information about the Repair Disk Permissions feature, see the following AppleCare article:
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature
Excel for Mac 2011
Step 1: Quit all programs and close all windows
On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.
Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.
Note You cannot quit Finder.Click Force Quit.
Repeat steps A through C until you exit all active applications.
Step 2: Remove Excel preferences
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Click View, and then click Arrange by Name.
Look for a file that is named 'Com.microsoft.Excel.plist.'
Scite windows. SciTE is customised through editing text files containing a list of properties in order to allow control with flexibility. Available for 12 years on Windows and Linux, SciTE has now been implemented for macOS. Documentation in OS X Help Viewer format is included with SciTE and shared documentation with other implementations can be viewed here. Download SciTE SciTE is a developers editor. Originally made as an example for the Scintilla project - an open source source code editing component, SciTE today is a fully featured text editor for developers using virtually any programming language. SciTE is a highly customizable and extendable source code and markup file editor to which you can easily add all the tools you need. Easy to customize IDE using the Lua scripting language. Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Commercial $ $ $ Mac Windows Linux Lightweight Package Control Extensible by Plugins/Extensions Customizable. Unlike the Atom editor, Sublime Text protects and copyrights its code and is thus not the freedom-ware some would like it to be. Although the developer and community that surround Sublime text are incredible supporters of open source, the fact that Sublime text is not open source, and that the development of it has slowed down incredibly, makes it difficult for the.
Locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you cannot locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Microsoft Excel, and then check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and then restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Com.microsoft.Excel.plist file to the trash.
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft folder.
Look for a file that is named 'Com.microsoft.Excel.prefs.plist.'
If you located the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Excel, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Com.microsoft.Excel.prefs.plist file to the trash.
Close all Microsoft Office applications.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft Folder.
Open the Office 2011 folder.
Look for a file that is named Excel Toolbars (12)' or Microsoft Excel Toolbars. '
If you located the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Excel, and then check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the toolbars file to the trash. If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 3: Perform a clean restart
For information how to clean start your operating system, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398596 Perform a clean startup (safe mode) to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office
For information about how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398768 How to completely remove Office for Mac 2011
If the issue continues to occur in safe mode, go to the next step.
Step 5: Use the Repair Disk Permissions feature
You can use the Repair Disk Permissions feature to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions feature, follow these steps:
On the Go menu, click Utilities.
Start the Disk Utility program.
Click the primary hard disk drive for your computer.
On the First Aid tab, click Repair Disk Permissions.
Microsoft Excel Read For Mac Shortcut
2398596 Perform a clean startup (safe mode) to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office
For information how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following office website:
How to download and install or uninstall Office 2016 for Mac
If the issue continues to occur in safe mode, go to the next step.
Step 5: Use the 'Repair Disk Permissions' feature
You can use the Repair Disk Permissions feature to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions feature, follow these steps:
On the Go menu, click Utilities.
Start the Disk Utility program.
Click the primary hard disk drive for your computer.
On the First Aid tab, click Repair Disk Permissions.
Note The Disk Utility program repairs only software that is installed by Apple. This utility also repairs folders, such as the Applications folder. However, this utility does not repair software that is in your home folder. For more information about the Repair Disk Permissions feature, see the following AppleCare article:
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature
Excel for Mac 2011
Step 1: Quit all programs and close all windows
On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.
Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.
Note You cannot quit Finder.Click Force Quit.
Repeat steps A through C until you exit all active applications.
Step 2: Remove Excel preferences
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Click View, and then click Arrange by Name.
Look for a file that is named 'Com.microsoft.Excel.plist.'
Scite windows. SciTE is customised through editing text files containing a list of properties in order to allow control with flexibility. Available for 12 years on Windows and Linux, SciTE has now been implemented for macOS. Documentation in OS X Help Viewer format is included with SciTE and shared documentation with other implementations can be viewed here. Download SciTE SciTE is a developers editor. Originally made as an example for the Scintilla project - an open source source code editing component, SciTE today is a fully featured text editor for developers using virtually any programming language. SciTE is a highly customizable and extendable source code and markup file editor to which you can easily add all the tools you need. Easy to customize IDE using the Lua scripting language. Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Commercial $ $ $ Mac Windows Linux Lightweight Package Control Extensible by Plugins/Extensions Customizable. Unlike the Atom editor, Sublime Text protects and copyrights its code and is thus not the freedom-ware some would like it to be. Although the developer and community that surround Sublime text are incredible supporters of open source, the fact that Sublime text is not open source, and that the development of it has slowed down incredibly, makes it difficult for the.
Locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you cannot locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Microsoft Excel, and then check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and then restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Com.microsoft.Excel.plist file to the trash.
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft folder.
Look for a file that is named 'Com.microsoft.Excel.prefs.plist.'
If you located the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Excel, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Com.microsoft.Excel.prefs.plist file to the trash.
Close all Microsoft Office applications.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Library folder.
Note The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft Folder.
Open the Office 2011 folder.
Look for a file that is named Excel Toolbars (12)' or Microsoft Excel Toolbars. '
If you located the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you located the file and moved it to the desktop, start Excel, and then check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Excel, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the toolbars file to the trash. If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 3: Perform a clean restart
For information how to clean start your operating system, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398596 Perform a clean startup (safe mode) to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office
For information about how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398768 How to completely remove Office for Mac 2011
If the issue continues to occur in safe mode, go to the next step.
Step 5: Use the Repair Disk Permissions feature
You can use the Repair Disk Permissions feature to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions feature, follow these steps:
On the Go menu, click Utilities.
Start the Disk Utility program.
Click the primary hard disk drive for your computer.
On the First Aid tab, click Repair Disk Permissions.
Microsoft Excel Read For Mac Shortcut
Note The Disk Utility program repairs only software that is installed by Apple. This utility also repairs folders, such as the Applications folder. However, this utility does not repair software that is in your home folder. For more information about the Repair Disk Permissions feature, see the following AppleCare article:
Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
Notice
Excel Viewer has been retired
Important
The Microsoft Excel Viewer was retired in April, 2018. It is no longer available for download or receive security updates. To continue viewing Excel files for free, we recommend installing the Excel mobile app or storing documents in OneDrive or Dropbox, where Excel Online opens them in your browser. For the Excel mobile app, visit the store for your device:
Summary
The Microsoft Excel Viewer is a small, freely redistributable program that lets you view and print Microsoft Excel spreadsheets if you don't have Excel installed. In addition, the Excel Viewer can open workbooks that were created in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh.
The Excel Viewer can open the latest version of Excel workbooks, but it will not display newer features.
More Information
The Microsoft Excel Viewer is the latest version of the viewer. It can read the file formats of all versions of Excel, and it replaces the Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003.
Other options for free viewing of Excel workbooks
- Excel Online Excel Online is available through OneDrive or deployed as part of Microsoft SharePoint. Excel Online can view, edit and print Excel workbooks. For more information about Excel Online, see the Office Online overview.
- Office 365 Trial Downloading the trial will give you access to the full capabilities of Microsoft Office 2013. For more information, see Office 365 Home.
- Office Mobile applications Download the trial for mobile applications available on iPhone, Android phone, or Windows Phone. For more information, see Office on mobile devices.
Note
The Excel Viewer is available only as a 32-bit application. A 64-bit version of the Excel Viewer does not exist. The 32-bit version of the Excel Viewer can be used on 64-bit versions of Windows.
The file name of the Excel Viewer is xlview.exe. The default folder location for the Excel Viewer on a 32-bit operating system isc:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12. The default folder location for the Excel Viewer on a 64-bit operating system is c:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice12.
Microsoft Excel Read For Mac Os
Note
If you already have a full version of Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, do not install Microsoft Excel Viewer in the same directory. Doing this causes file conflicts.
Microsoft Excel Read For Mac
File formats supported
The Excel file formats supported are .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .xltx, .xltm, .xls, .xlt, .xlm, and .xlw. Macro-enabled files can be opened (.xlsm, .xltm, and .xlm), but the macros do not run.
Known issues with newer versions of Excel workbooks and the Excel Viewer
Even though the Excel Viewer can read the latest Excel workbooks, the following new features are not visible or are displayed differently in the Excel Viewer.
- Sparklines are not shown in the Excel Viewer. The cells where they are located are blank.
- PivotTables and PivotCharts are flattened. The data or chart will appear, but modifications cannot be made.
- Macros do not run in the Excel Viewer.
- Slicers do not display data in the Excel Viewer. Instead, a box is displayed in the location of the slicer and it contains the following text: 'This shape represents a slicer. Slicers are supported in Excel 2010 or later. If the shape was modified in an earlier version of Excel, or if the workbook was saved in Excel 2003 or earlier, the slicer cannot be used.'
If you have to view or use these features, use Excel Online.