But it has one disadvantage – it changes the file name. Just right click on the older file entry in the Recent Files list and choose RemoveĬhanging the file to new version is definitely a good decision. But keeping both (old and new) files visible there is undesirable.ĭon’t worry – even this problem has been thought of by Office team. The list of recently opened files gets flushed out as and when more files are opened. Worse still, you may edit both files at different points of time and then get completely confused in life. While opening the file, you may open the older file and edit it without realizing it. Now in your File Open list, both files are seen – which is very dangerous. What did you just do? You opened an XLS file, Saved it as XLSX and reopened it. Just before sending it to the customer, save it as a copy in old format. While you are working on the file, use it in new format.
But that does not mean you should not get benefits of the new version you already have.
My customers are demanding old version filesĪbsolutely genuine problem. In case of Excel, one more step is required. If the file has macros, it must be saved with the M extension like XLSM, DOCM, PPTMįor Word and Excel, the Compatibility Mode goes away as soon as you save the file in the new format. Old formats are (XLS, DOC, PPT), new formats end with X like XLSX, DOCX, PPTX. Think a little and confirm that the file is safe to convert. Even if file extension is not shown, compatibility mode will be shown for older files. As soon as you open a file – check if it is showing compatibility mode. You or your company spent money to buy the latest version… but you are not going to get any returns from that investment Solution is simple Step 1: Notice the Compatibility Mode problem Like this, hundreds of new features will either be disabled or work partially in compatibility mode. For example, even if you have Excel 2013, you will get only 65000 rows, not 1 million rows. In short, you are not going to get most of the new features of the new version. Therefore, Office is downgrading itself and behaving as though it was Office 2003! You are using a new version of Office but you have opened an older version file. My customers are demanding old version filesĭo you know the meaning of Compatibility Mode?.