Error when opening password-protected files on Android or Windows Mobile

Are you seeing a "Something went wrong.." error message when trying to open a password-protected Excel file on your Android or Windows mobile device? Well, you have come to the right place. The good news is that there is a workaround available to fix this issue.

You must save your password-protected Excel file to a different file format.

Important: This workaround may not save all the latest changes, formatting, and feature sets of the workbook specific to the version of Excel you are using.

1. Open your password-protected Excel file on a computer running Windows.

2. Click File > Save As.

3. In the file formats list, select .xlsx or another file format that is supported on the Android or Windows Mobile platform.

More information on why this problem occurs

Excel for Android and Excel Mobile can only open certain password-protected files. It depends on the file format, and also the version that it was created. The following table shows the supported file formats and platforms for password-protected files.

Files created in Excel 2003

File Format	Office 2013	Excel 2016	Excel 2016 for Mac	Excel Mobile for Windows	Excel Mobile for Android	Excel Mobile for iOS
.XLS	●	●	●	◌	◌	File opens in Read-Only mode.
.XLSX	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSM	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSB	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLT	●	●	●	◌	◌	◌

● File format is supported
◌ File format is not supported

Files created in Excel 2007

File Format	Office 2013	Excel 2016	Excel 2016 for Mac	Excel Mobile for Windows	Excel Mobile for Android	Excel Mobile for iOS
.XLS	●	●	●	◌	◌	File opens in Read-Only mode.
.XLSX	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSM	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSB	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLT	●	●	●	◌	◌	◌
.XLTX	●	●	●	◌	◌	●

● File format is supported
◌ File format is not supported

Files created in Excel 2010

File Format	Office 2013	Excel 2016	Excel 2016 for Mac	Excel Mobile for Windows	Excel Mobile for Android	Excel Mobile for iOS
.XLS	●	●	●	◌	◌	File opens in Read-Only mode.
.XLSX	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSM	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSB	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLT	●	●	●	◌	◌	◌
.XLTX	●	●	●	◌	◌	●

● File format is supported
◌ File format is not supported

Files created in Excel 2013

File Format	Office 2013	Excel 2016	Excel 2016 for Mac	Excel Mobile for Windows	Excel Mobile for Android	Excel Mobile for iOS
.XLS	●	●	●	●	●	File opens in Read-Only mode.
.XLSX	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSM	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSB	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLT	●	●	●	◌	◌	◌
.XLTX	●	●	●	◌	◌	●

● File format is supported
◌ File format is not supported

Files created in Excel 2016

File Format	Office 2013	Excel 2016	Excel 2016 for Mac	Excel Mobile for Windows	Excel Mobile for Android	Excel Mobile for iOS
.XLS	●	●	●	●	●	File opens in Read-Only mode.
.XLSX	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSM	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLSB	●	●	●	●	●	●
.XLT	●	●	●	◌	◌	◌
.XLTX	●	●	●	◌	◌	●

● File format is supported
◌ File format is not supported

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