iOS Office app saves Excel password protected files incorrectly

Anonymous
2019-11-09T16:06:07+00:00

I have an importantexcel file that I have password protected and have been opening in multiple versions of Excel with no problem. It opens fine in the new Office iOS app, but since I made changes to the file (in the Office app) it can be no longer opened in any other version of Excel - iOS, WebApp, Win32, Android. I get errors such as 'this version of Microsoft Excel cannot decrypt this file' or 'The file is corrupt and cannot be opened.' on Office Win32. The file however can still be opened in the iOS Office app.

To see if this happens to other files I copied another spreadsheet file then opened it in Win32 Excel and password protected it. I then opened up the file in the iOS Office app and made a change. Since making the change it could no longer open up in solo Excel apps - the same as the first file.

I'm slightly scared now that I can only open my original file in the iOS Office app, and if they fix the issue with the Office iOS app that I may not be able to open the file anywhere.

Microsoft 365 Insider | Excel | iOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-11-11T18:32:55+00:00

    Please report this behavior from within the app by going to Settings > Help & Feedback. 

    -Jesse

    I have done, but not sure it got through ok.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-11-11T17:47:24+00:00

    Please report this behavior from within the app by going to Settings > Help & Feedback. 

    -Jesse

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-11-10T10:24:29+00:00

    It was more if anyone picked up my phone, they wouldn't easily be able to access the details. Although, in hindsight, would have been better off without the password. I still wouldn't have expected a new version of the software (albeit in beta) to break the file for other versions (some of them newer).

    ETA: I have got the data back by copying and pasting from the iOS Office App to an empty workbook in iOS Excel - without a password. The Office app seems fine with an Excel file without a password - however as soon as it is password protected, the first time Office iOS saves it the file becomes unreadable in any standalone Excel.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-11-10T09:06:39+00:00

    FWIW - just an observation. Its easy to bypass the password protection on an Excel doc, it requires no special utility or complex process. And as such you waste your time in protecting it.

    If you want to protect the doc use a third party protection/encrypt utility

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