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
    2018-01-17T01:03:43+00:00

    I purchased a new laptop running Windows 10 and Edge browser. Also purchased Office Home & Student 2016.

    .XLS files wouldn't open.  Microsoft kept taking me to an App Store where the only options were free apps (apart from a couple). I downloaded one (I think the name was XLS Edit) which worked for about a day (although not very well) before locking up unless I paid $2.99.  The purchase interface looked decidedly dodgy to the extent I didn't even know if it was a legit site.

    After hours of looking for a solution and trying a number of supposedly easy fixes, I found this site.  

    https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Double-clicking-an-Office-file-fails-to-open-it-1e9c0ad9-34c8-4440-a42e-d30186b29ed6?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

    I followed the simple instructions and lo and behold, it seems to work. Note I also deleted Office 365 which seemed to be in my Programs, and also the other download I'd added previously.

    I have to say it was an extremely frustrating exercise.  The link I eventually found was posted in reply to a query originally submitted in 2015, and which is still active as of January 2018. How can a problem such as this not have been resolved by Microsoft in this period of time?  Absolutely incredible!

    Hope the solution contained in the link works for at least some of the frustrated consumers.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-16T11:03:37+00:00

    Hi, 

    I'm am having this same issue but I don't have the option once I'm in the app store to "Look for another app on this PC". Please help!

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-05T21:03:58+00:00

    Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions.  I actually found a workaround myself, by which I can recover the xls files one at a time.  I have a second computer that I use as a backup.  It also has Windows 10 and an up-to-date Office 365 subscription, which gives me Excel 2016, the same as my primary computer.  But I didn't update the Excel on the backup computer.  I have both computers synced to a Dropbox account so any file produced on one computer automatically transfers to the other one.  The workaround is to open the.xls file on the computer with the non-updated Excel 2016, then save it as an .xlsx format file.  This then transfers to the new computer where I can open it without any trouble with the updated Excel.  Not a perfect solution, of course, because I don't particularly want to have to go back and update every single .xls file one by one.  But for the ones that matter for me, it has solved my problem.

    I agree with those who say that this should never have been a problem in the first place - why ever would you NOT want to be able to open old files with an updated version of a major software app?  I wonder, does anyone from Microsoft ever read these kinds of strings and try to do something about problems that are obviously affecting significant numbers of their customers?

    Comments, Microsoft?

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