Excel table compatibility issues

To ensure that an Excel workbook does not have compatibility issues that cause a significant loss of functionality or a minor loss of fidelity in an earlier version of Excel, you can run the Compatibility Checker. The Compatibility Checker finds any potential compatibility issues and helps you create a report so that you can resolve them. This article details some of the issues that may arise if your workbook contains Excel tables.

Important: Issues that cause a minor loss of fidelity might or might not have to be resolved before you continue saving the workbook—data or functionality is not lost, but the workbook might not look or work exactly the same way when you open it in an earlier version of Microsoft Excel.

In this article

Issues that cause a significant loss of functionality

Issues that cause a minor loss of fidelity

Issues that cause a significant loss of functionality

Issue

Solution

Alternative text is applied to a table in this workbook. Alternative text on tables will be removed in versions prior to Excel 2007.

What it means    Alternative text is not available in Excel 97-2003, and cannot be displayed in these earlier versions of Excel. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the Excel table that contains alternative text. To display the alternative text in the earlier version of Excel, you can copy it into a blank cell on the worksheet, or you could insert a comment that contains the text. Right-click anywhere in the table, click Table, and then click Alternative Text. In the Description box, select the alternative text, and then press Ctrl+C to copy it.

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Issues that cause a minor loss of fidelity

Issue	Solution
The table contains a custom formula or invalid text in the total row. In earlier versions of Excel, the data is displayed without a table.	What it means    Although the formulas and text remain intact in Excel 97-2003, the range will no longer be in table format. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the table that contains a custom formula or text, remove that formula or text from the total row, and then use only formulas that are available in the total row.
A table in this workbook does not display a header row. In earlier versions of Excel, the data is displayed without a table unless the Header Row check box is selected (Table Tools, Design tab, Table Style Options group).	What it means    In Excel 97-2003, a table cannot be displayed without a header row. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the table that is displayed without a header row, and then display a header row.
A table style is applied to a table in this workbook. Table style formatting cannot be displayed in earlier versions of Excel.	What it means    In Excel 97-2003, theme-based table styles are not available and cannot be displayed. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the table that has a table style applied, remove that table style, and then format the table manually.
A table in this workbook is connected to an external data source. Table functionality will be lost, but the data remains connected. If table rows are hidden by a filter, they remain hidden in an earlier version of Excel.	What it means    Table functionality is lost in Excel 97-2003. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the table that is connected to an external data source, and then disconnect the table from the external data source. In Excel 97-2003, you can then connect the data to the external data source again.
A table in this workbook has a read-only connection to a Windows SharePoint Services List. Table functionality will be lost, as well as the ability to refresh or edit the connection. If table rows are hidden by a filter, they remain hidden in an earlier version of Excel.	What it means    Table functionality is lost in Excel 97-2003. What to do    In the Compatibility Checker, click Find to locate the table that has a read-only connection to a Microsoft SharePoint Foundation List, and then disconnect the table from the SharePoint List. In Excel 2003, you can then import the SharePoint List as a read/write list. You can also create a read/write list in an Excel 2003 workbook, and then work on this workbook in Compatibility Mode in Excel 2013, which keeps it in Excel 97-2003 file format.

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