Saving Your Workbooks for Use with Older Versions of Excel

Over the years, Microsoft has added many features to Excel and has changed its file format several times. As a result, two problems occur:

• An older version of Excel may not be able to open a workbook you create in Excel 2011. If the older version can open the workbook, it may not display correctly.
• An older version of Excel can't support the features that have been added to Excel in subsequent versions. For example, Microsoft added sparklines (in-cell charts) in Excel 2011; earlier versions, such as Excel 2008 and Excel 2004, don't have sparklines.

The first essential for sharing a workbook with older versions of Excel is to choose a suitable file format:

• Excel Workbook format. Use this format for sharing with Excel 2011, Excel 2008 for Mac, Excel 2010 for Windows, or Excel 2007 for Windows. You can also use it for sharing with Excel 2004 for Mac or Excel 2003 for Windows provided that computer has installed filters that enable it to read this file format (which Microsoft introduced in Excel 2007). This format uses the .xlsx file extension.

  NOTE: You can download the filters for free from the Microsoft Web site (www.microsoft.com/downloads/). For Windows, look for the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats download. For Mac, look for the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac download.

• Excel 97–2004 Workbook format. Use this format for sharing with Excel 2004 for Mac, Excel 2003 for Windows, or older versions of Excel. This format, which uses the .xls file extension, is also good for sharing with other spreadsheet applications.

To save a workbook file in a format different from the one it currently uses, follow these steps:

1. Choose File Save As from the menu bar or press Cmd+Option+S to display the Save As dialog box.
2. In the Format pop-up menu, choose the format you want to use.
3. Optionally, change the file name in the Save As text box, or choose a different folder. Because the Excel Workbook format and the Excel 97¬–2004 Workbook format use different file extensions, you usually needn't change the name—but having two workbooks with almost identical names can be confusing.
4. Click the Save button. Excel closes the Save As dialog box and saves the workbook.

The second essential is to make sure the file you save is as compatible as possible with earlier versions of Excel. To help you identify potential problems and (if you want) root them out, Excel's Toolbox includes the Compatibility Report palette. You use it like this:

1. Open the workbook if it's not already open.
2. Choose View Compatibility Report to open the Toolbox with the Compatibility Report palette at the front.
3. Open the Check compatibility with pop-up menu, and then click the version of the application with which you want to make sure the workbook is compatible. The Results box shows a list of possible problems (see Figure 3–9).
   

   Figure 3–9. In the Compatibility Report palette, choose the version of Excel with which to check the workbook's compatibility. You can then choose which problems to fix and which to ignore.

4. To see the details of a problem, click it in the Results box. The Explanation box displays a description of the problem.
5. To fix a problem, click it in the Results box. If the Fix button is available, click it to fix this instance of the problem. To fix all the instances, click the Fix drop-down button, and then click Fix All on the menu.
6. To ignore a problem, click it in the Results box, and then click the Ignore button. To ignore all the instances, click the Ignore drop-down button, and then click Ignore All on the menu. To teach the application not to bother you with this problem again, click the Ignore drop-down button and then click Don't Show Again on the menu.