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Question .xls and .xlsx
recent purchase of new computer with Office 365 (Personal) - can't open .xls files that were saved to external drive and downloaded onto new unit. Is there a way to convert .xls to .xlsx or otherwise open them? I'm a very basic user
You need to associate this file type with Excel. If you are on Windows 10 when
Win -> Settings - Apps -> Default apps -> Choose default application by file type (at the bottom of the page) - find .xls and select Excel for it
Change default programs in Windows 10 (microsoft.com)
Windows 10: Associate a File Type with a Specific App | Password Recovery (top-password.com)
6 Replies
What exactly means "can't open" ? You see some error (if so which one) or what?
- Sir
the Excel files that were on my external drive as .xls now appear as .xlsx. When i click on a file to open it, Word Pad comes up and the page just shows a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols. Thanks for your patience - as i said, i'm a very basic user.You need to associate this file type with Excel. If you are on Windows 10 when
Win -> Settings - Apps -> Default apps -> Choose default application by file type (at the bottom of the page) - find .xls and select Excel for it
Change default programs in Windows 10 (microsoft.com)
Windows 10: Associate a File Type with a Specific App | Password Recovery (top-password.com)
ArtH2404mentions I'm on the latest Excel version and can still open xls files. They are ancient but it should not cause any problems to open them and save them back as xlsx.
