Need to open .xls files with Excel 2016/Win10, default is now Adobe

Anonymous
2015-10-06T15:57:22+00:00
Please check out Office<br> documents don't open in the correct application <br>for the latest information on this topic.

Just installed Win10 and upgraded to Excel 2016. Find I can't open .xls files as default app to open them is now ...Adobe. Excel is not an available option in setting default apps to open .xls files. I got sent to the Store and the app I selected can be set as the default, but when I saved file as .xlsx, Excel balks about opening it. Somehow this doesn't make sense that Excel is not the default for .xls files. Any help here?

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Anonymous
2015-10-06T20:05:58+00:00

Hi Darrell - Windows 10 puts you in control of which of your apps act as the default for file types, so we don't automatically take over the association (I guess you could imagine how much we'd upset a confirmed OpenOffice user if we did :-))

Easiest way to fix this:

Press the Windows key/select the Windows Icon in the start bar

Type "Default" - and search should then suggest: "Default Programs", select it

Wait for the applet to start and then select the "Set your default programs" choice

Find Excel 2016 in the list, select it, and then select "->Set this program as default"

Then sit back and enjoy Excel opening your workbook files!

Apologies for the somewhat long set of instructions, I feel we should award some kind of "dedication above and beyond the expected calls of duty" :-)

Hope this helps...pc

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Anonymous
2017-04-11T20:45:08+00:00

Hello! We've created a "Fix It" tool that may further assist if you're continuing to experiencing problems with file associations. You can learn more and access the tool here: Double-clicking an Office file fails to open it

Freya

Office Newsroom

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-11T16:02:24+00:00

    Try right click the file in explorer and go to properties. Under general tab change the association to Excel 2016. This seems to reset it for all files.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-09T02:33:54+00:00

    Pierre-Kerbage.  Did you ever uninstall Office 2013?  That is the only thing that I did that you did not mention.  After that I ran the repair to the MS Office 2016 installation and everything is working as expected.  I don't know if I have survived an update as yet.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-08T16:43:25+00:00

    Me too. Using Windows 10 PRO (latest release with all Microsoft patches) and Office 2016 Pro that just released - and upgraded from Office 2013 messed up every extension. NOTHING would work - not exen XLSX extensions. Yes, had to manually go in and associate the extensions from 2 different places (Windows 10 default app does not yet work as we all know as it does not even FIND Excel and it is extremely limited). Going through the control panel temporarily fixed the associations for a while and then broke again with the newest patches. 2 weeks of working through this resulted in huge frustration. I could never just WORK - I had to go through and mess with this nearly every time. As of November 8 and on every computer I have (6 of them) running Windows 10 - ALL have that same problem. Uninstalling Office 2016 and re-installing Office 2013 fixes 100% of the problems. For me at least, Office 2016 was not successful nor is it useable unless you feel like going through a lot of pain. PPT also does the same thing. The only app that seemed to work perfectly for me was Outlook 2016. But like many of us, we live in Excel and Word and PPT. Maybe it is just me, but Office 2016 was unsuccessful on every PC I installed and purchased the key. Oh one more thing, I even UNINSTALLED and REINSTALLED the entire suite - same thing - conducted a REPAIR - same thing - this is on multiple computers. So unless you are installing Office 2016 on Win 10 for the first time (without previous Office 2013), I have not been successful unless I have to go through all the workarounds. This is easy? This is intuitive? Yikes. No wonder Apple is having a hey day ! We can't even get a SIMPLE Microsoft to Microsoft upgrade correct. And that's their #1 selling product. God help us if we are trying something odd like Photoshop.

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