Ever since I updated to Mac OS Catalina 10.15.1. not all, but some of my numbers spreadsheets will have an error message "File Format is Invalid"
Is there anyway to fix this as there are quite a few files. I have back-up on Drop Box and have used it for an important numbers file, with success.
However, this random occurrence is very strange and I wonder if it's prevalent amongst the community?
Mac Pro
I wonder whether the colon character in the file name has something to do with this. It is supposed to be a legal character but one never knows.
Also could you try the following in the command line. Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and type the word "file" without the quotes. Type a space character after the word and then drag and drop one of the invalid files onto the terminal window. This will put the file's path and name on the command line. Now hit enter. The file command is supposed to figure what filetype this is by inspecting the contents of the file. Maybe your filename extensions are not correct, suggesting a file being PDF but actually the internal data is that of a MSWord file? In such a case Preview.app would be thrown off as it trusts the filename extension.
To tell the truth I have discovered that I have hundreds of historic files that have the same problem. The files created after the upgrade to Catalina open without a problem, but files from Mojave do not. For example scanned documents and Numbers spreadsheets are a problem from Mojave. I have tried the "restart" procedure without success. There seems to be a code problem with transferring exiting files from one operating system to Catalina 10.15.1.
Do you still see the problem after upgrading Numbers to 6.2.1?
SG
Are you opening those files on iPadOS, iOS too? If so make sure you've updated to 13.2.3.
And also try another reboot.
What do you mean by "scanned documents" won't open>
SG
You originally said you use Dropbox as a "backup". So the natural assumption was that you normally keep your Numbers files on your Mac and you weren't able to access them there.
Numbers is designed to work particularly well with iCloud Drive. I use that for Numbers. Dropbox I use for non-Apple apps.
SG
For some reason all my files that previously were a problem are now opening as normal.
As you can imagine, I am perplexed by what has occurred and seems to have fixed itself.
If this happens again, I will post a screen shot of the error message.
Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Ted Hewison.
Yes, Numbers was upgraded 3 days ago automatically. I am still getting the "File format is invalid" message on old spreadsheets from Mojave.
I'll do a reboot on the computer and see what happens, although I'm sure I have within the last 3 days.
I'll let you know the results.
Tx.
I don't open Numbers spreadsheets on my iPad's or iPhone. The screen's are too small. The problem is with my MacBook Pro.
When I say scanned documents, I mean .pdf documents and .TIFF images from past years.
Ok, I'll try another reboot, but a hard one this time. I'll let you know the result.
Tx.
I think I may have found the problem. DropBox maybe the culprit.
I decided to take one of the file folders that was a problem and upload it to DropBox from my hard drive. I then downloaded it from DropBox and for some reason decided check off the box in the screenshot section above named "Save hard drive space automatically". There was never a problem in Mojave when this box was checked on. I was now able to open any up any downloaded file and any other historic file that previously would not open.
Everything now seems to be working as it should.
Thank everybody for their imputes and help.
Regards,
Ted Hewison.
can you share a screenshot of the icon for some of the files you are trying to open?
Hi Wayne,
It suddenly occurred to me that I had an example in my Trash.https://www.dropbox.com/s/pztcyycj94x9la6/Screenshot%202019-11-14%2013.15.32.png?dl=0
I have rebooted my computed and still get the "File format is invalid" message.
Any help would be appreciated.
Tx.
I have done a hard reboot to no avail.
Tx
Hi, I have done what you recommend and the result is as above. I don't know if this is the answer you were looking for?
Tx.
File Format For Numbers Is Invalid
