Problem workbook opening in Excel in SharePoint 2010 – Internet Explorer
by Dave Mellors • January 6, 2011 • Fixes to problems, SharePoint • 10 Comments
One person in the team wasn’t able to open an Excel spreadsheet on our SharePoint 2010 server. There were two errors depending on how you tried to open the file.
The first error was shown when the excel spreadsheet was being displayed in the browser and you clicked on the Open In Excel button.
“To open this workbook, your computer must have a version of Microsoft Excel installed and your web browser must support opening files directly from Excel in the browser.”
The second error was seen when trying to Open in Excel from the Document Library view.
“The document could not be opened for editing. A Microsoft SharePoint Foundation compatible application could not be found to edit the document.”
Solution
The answer to the problem was that they were using some sort of quick launch application which was always executing the 64 bit version of IE and switching to the 32 bit version worked.
Thanks Dave ! This was a huge help
My problem is similar, however, for xls it opens up in excel. For other variations of excel, e.g., xlsx, xlsm, etc. sharepoint will try to open the document within the site. I’ve tested this on a couple of computers and it’s really annoying. Its seems to me that Sharepoint cannot associate .xlsm with the appropriate application. Please help.
We are running into the same problem and I would like to try this suggestion but don’t know how to switch to the 32-bit version when client clicks on the “Open in Excel” button…
Would you be so kind and give me some pointers on where to define that?
Thanks!
Same problem here but not runnint IE 64 bit and Excel is 2007 and Sharepoint is 2010.
Help?
Solution
The answer to the problem was that they were using some sort of quick launch application which was always executing the 64 bit version of IE and switching to the 32 bit version worked.
I have the exact errors on a Vista 32 bit with IE7 (32 bit)– Some excel docs work some do not – the ones that work come up with a Open/Save dialoge box the ones that dont open in the browser and produce the exact same errors you are showing when the button open in excel is used ..
Can you expand on your fix or could it be that some of the docs were put into share point from a 64 bit box ??
I looked high and low and found the answer here !!! Thanks
You’re the man!
Thanks for the help.
Perfect! Fixed my problem. A consultant couldn’t open some files and they were using a program to open the browser on our network. They were able to switch it from 64-bit to 32-bit and problem solved. Thanks, this was a headache!
Can you publish the steps you are referring to in order to solve this issue?
“The answer to the problem was that they were using some sort of quick launch application which was always executing the 64 bit version of IE and switching to the 32 bit version worked.’
How to you go about correcting the quick launch app?
My Context:
Windows 7 Professional SP1 32-bit
IE9 32-bit 9.0.8112.16421IC 9.0.13
MS Office Professional Plus 2010 14.0.6029.1000
Resolution: Control Panel, Programs and Features, Change, Repair
- – - – - – - – - – -
Problem:
“To open this workbook, your computer must have a version of Microsoft Excel installed and your Web Browser must support opening files directly from Excel in the browser”.