Error message: Decryption failed(null) when attempting to open an Excel document on iPad

I've re-read all posts here and cannot find where anyone has substantiated their claim that Apple fixed this issue. I too am very interested in an Apple solution so I stay active on this topic. The only people who have been successful in opening an MS encrypted file are:

1. Those with iOS < 4.2
2. Those who have installed MS Office or its individual apps on their iOS 4.2 or later device

If anyone is going to state otherwise, pls tell us which iOS you are on. Just saying its working isn't helpful. If anyone claims that all of a sudden its working, tell us which iOS you were running when it didn't work and which iOS you are running when it does work. Working means you are able to successfully open a MS encrypted file within Apple Mail on iOS 4.2 or later and without having MS Office or Excel or Word or Powerpoint on your device.

Hopefully Apple reads these posts so we can get a fix in the next iOS. As of this writing, iOS 4.2.1 is out for phones and 4.2 for iPads.

Go to page 2 of this thread and read my post entitled Interim Success. This works for me and I suspect it will for you and all others too. I do not have a Microsoft acct, I do not subscribe to Office 360 so the work around I posted is free and works. This will have to make due till Apple fixes this issue.

I can only open it because I downloaded the Word App and my file is now there (tap on files); password still needed to open it. It still won’t open as an email attachment. Hopefully Apple is working on fixing this.

Right you are Simpo79, if all one does is want to open a password protected Excel file, then they need MS Excel on their device, if they want to open a password protected Word file then they need MS Word on their device and so on. I just found it easier to install MS Office from the App store since it contains Excel, Word and PowerPoint, like a one stop shop.

However, I learned yesterday when helping my wife on her iPad that I could not find MS Office on the App store for an iPad, I could only find it for an iPhone. We first downloaded MS Office for the iPhone onto her iPad, it worked well to open the files but of course it was designed for the iPhone size screen so it only filled 25% of her iPad's screen. I zapped it and downloaded MS Excel instead because she only wanted to use it for Excel files and of course this worked like a charm.

So, I wonder why MS did not release Office for the iPad but did for the iPhone????

Yeah, you are not following what I and others wrote in this post.. .. just do what I wrote on Jan 2 at 5:17pm, you do not need to be signed in to the MS Office App or do anything in the MS Office app...try this --> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252022256?answerId=254278212022#254278212022

I am receiving the error message: Decryption failed(null) when attempting to open a password protected Excel document on iPhone and iPad after update to ios 14.2. I am currently updating to 14.4 to see if it fixes this problem

Please tell Apple, squeaky wheel!

I don’t use excel in iPhone. I share the file with Note. And in note there is the same problem. For now i use messages and it work

Please everyone contact Apple on getting this fixed.

I have already when it first started but I think they need to hear from a lot of us to get motivated!

Apple has not fixed this. We all have to use a work around.

I think it would be helpful if lots of users contacted Apple and complained. I did this when the problem started.

When I save a password protected document in my notes on iP 12 max I cannot open it because it comes back and says decryption failed. Before a change in the operating system it worked fine.

When I switched my Word Documents from DOCX to an older version, eg 2004, I was able to re-open my encrypted Word Documents not just on my Mac but also on my iPhone with the newer iOS.

I am having the same issue. I receive the error message: Decryption failed(null) when attempting to open a password protected Excel document on iPhone after I updated to ios 14.2. As a software engineer myself, I'm wondering how well you test new versions of updates.

I'm getting the same error message - Decryption failed (null) when attempting to open a password protected Excel doc on my iPhone after recent upgrade to IOS 14.2 I bit surprising as well as disappointing that Apple has not addressed the issue.

I’m receiving the same message and it’s infuriating. I even recreated the file and emailed it without the password and it STILL wouldn’t open.

I’m very new to Mac - got my first one this past week (Windows user since late ‘80s to early ‘90s). I absolutely can’t have this issue happen to me - I must keep my master files on my computer and send password-protected copies via email when necessary.

Since I’m brand new here (this is my first forum), what can be done about this?