Two days ago I went to my files to get my Excel spreadsheet that I had my 2024 taxes on, and it was time to send it to my accountant due to the extension deadline coming up. I had created the file back in the spring, and hadn't really looked at it since then.

Well, I went looking for it. The file was GONE. Totally GONE. Corrupted with a long number beside the notation. That was probably 30 or more hours worth of work GONE. I don't have an answer to what would fix the problem, but I had to totally redo my 2024 taxes, business and personal.

I love my Mac & iPad and iPhone. I just wish Microsoft knew how to play nice with others....or Apple, if it's Apple's fault.

I sympathize!

The Time Machine automatically saves - and I am not always sure how to access older version - but all the financial spreadsheets: budget, tax, medical expenses, investments - are periodically sent to a thumb drive.

Glad you managed to rebuild it.

I'll look into that, as well as what FemDemERA suggested!

It backs up your files to an external drive every day. You can search for files going back months.

I've been using Mac Office on my Mac laptops since Office for Mac 2003. Mostly Excel and Word, which I use daily. I can't recall any problems opening prior versions (or PC versions) of any of the apps. I should note I don't use the Office 365 subscription software. I purchased the software itself, with lifetime license for both my PC and Mac -- 2003 versions were discs I bought with the laptops and more recently my 2021 Office versions were downloadable software through the MacWorld Shop. I mention that as I'm not sure if there is a difference in how the lifetime license vs subscription versions act with files, although guessing it's the same?

Anyway, that initial 2003 version lasted me through several laptops until I got the newer Mac with the M1 chip at which point I upgraded to 2021. It was a pretty seamless upgrade. The only thing is that some of the older files have the old xls, doc, etc. extensions. I can open them though, no problem, and then I can save as xlsx, docx, etc. filetype.

I also move files between my PC and Mac without issue.

Just to make sure, I just now found an old .xls, .ppt and .doc file on my mac and opened each of them. They opened just fine.

Hope that helps.

and I think I'll look into buying the software like you mentioned. It sounds like it would be a lot smoother than what I've experienced. Thanks for the info!

Here’s a link to the Macworld shop - hope it’s okay to post this. The actual software download is done through Microsoft’s website and you register the software with them.

https://shop.macworld.com/

the office key.

No, no subscription.

Whenever I open a spreadsheet at the top it says to check for an update. How do I do this? through the settings? Or do I go to Office site?

And if there is an update and I get it, probably will have to pay for it, will it open my existing documents?

Thanks. Hope this is not too convoluted

you bought a lifetime license then the regular updates come through microsoft, should be no cost. (I don’t believe MS even has my credit card or bank info, as I bought my software through MacWorld). It’s only if you want to upgrade to a different version (such as 2021 to 2023 for instance) that you would have to pay for a new license. Hope that makes sense.

For updates, I have my settings set to check for the updates and My message (at top of spreadsheet) says there is an update that requires a restart of the app. I click to restart the app and it updates. Alternatively I think you can go to the “about” page and click to check for updates.

I only do version upgrades if I really feel new features are worth it, or if my hardware (like the new Mac) demands it. That’s why I used office 2003 for so long. “If it ain’t broke” and all that… but I do the updates as they pop up on a regular basis. Sometimes I wonder if it is just M$ keeping tabs on me, but that’s probably just my distrust of big business paranoia

With a regular update (of same version) you should have no troubles with the opening of files. If you purchase a new version of Office, I believe the versions are backwards compatible and I have not had problems with opening older files. That’s my experience at least. I can’t guarantee anything but I have not had any problems with either updates or upgrades of MS Office on my Macs.

On edit: if you click for an update and it tries to get you to enter payment info, you should be able to back out, click out or just close the browser. Also, it’s been a couple years but I seem to remember when I installed the 2021 version on my new Mac, that MS wanted to direct me to office 365 so I had to read carefully to make sure and bypass that option for the lifetime license version.

I don’t have any problems, I do not use the spreadsheets for complicated functions so will just leave it alone, make sure to save them.

An alias is just a pointer to the real file. If the alias is all you have, it won't open.

Some files that I use on a daily basis are on my desktop in the alias form but the originals are safe and secure in the hard drive, and in the Time Machine and eve on a flash drive.