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

Mine is a word document. I still cannot open it as an email attachment, only through the word app. This issue is on my iPhone, not my new or old iPads. I don’t have cellular on my iPads, if that’s relevant to fixing this issue.

I have the same problem but a variant. I have four MS Word docs that all use the same password but when trying to open on my IPAD or iPhone, only three of them will open. The other will not and I get the same response - Decryption failed (null). This is ridiculous. Apple needs to fix this.

Thanks, Bgnmarty: After installing the Microsoft office app it worked when loading the file via this app. (However it does still not work if I try to open it without using the app - not a problem but good to know)

As I mentioned, the problem is random. I have four Word docs using the exact same password. Three of them will open, the other one will not. Before that, two would open and two would not but one opened about 3 days after trying on the IPAD again. GO figure.

First, no one is saying they are opening password protected MS Office files "directly", we are all using the workaround in one way or another. Some people just don't put many details in their posts so you really have to guess at what they are saying.

There are a couple ways of opening MS Office files under iOS 4.2.X, none of them are as straightforward as they used to be before Apple released 4.2 so while you are correct that its an extra step now, it is what it is till they fix it, if in fact they see it as an issue in the first place, who knows, maybe it was intentional :-0

1- I installed the MS Office app (not 360), free from the App store, that takes care of Word, PowerPoint and Excel but I do not open that app and then use it to open my file. For me, I have my files in Apple's "File" folder app which comes standard in iOS, all the files are there in one nice tidy place. I open the file I want from within the Files app and let the phone do the rest. It looks at the file extension then looks at the apps on my phone, it finds the MS Office app and automatically opens that to open my Excel file thereby prompting me for the password. Works great and since its opening it in the proper app instead of an Apple Preview, I get to use the app features if I want. I'm actually starting to like it better than the way it was but would still like to see Apple put things back to the way they were.

2- Others just open their MS Office app first or if they don't have that app but only have the separate Excel or Word, etc app, they open that first, navigate to the file they want and open it by entering their password just like you would on a desktop.

In other words, you now need to have the app responsible for the file extension you want to open, on your device whereas before, Apple's embedded Preview opened it. What was nice about using Preview was that you could "preview' the file directly from within Apple Mail and of course now you cannot.

Hope this helps.. ..

Bgnmarty, thank you! I think you have summarized the situation perfectly! It had not occurred to me that maybe this is an intentional change—I hope not, but you may have given the ‘real’ answer to the issue. I like the convenience of preview, but fear I may have to get used to the new way of things. Anyway, thank you for reviewing the issue so carefully. Nice job.

ChuckM47 - you are a life saver! I have a file that I do not want to save to my device - so I did not like the other work around suggestions. I saved my Excel file as a PDF, added a password and uploaded it to my secure server. I was able to log on to that and open the protected PDF from my iPhone running 14.2. THANK YOU!

Like Bgnmarty I do not have a Microsoft Office subscription but you can install the MS Office app for free via the Apple App Store. Once it’s on your iPhone/iPad you can use it to open and view an encrypted MS Word or Excel file. You don’t need a subscription. I haven’t tried Bgnmarty’s method of saving it to “Files” as I keep my MS documents on Dropbox and the workaround works ok from there. This is how it works for me:

1) open Dropbox on my phone

2) tap the encrypted file I want

Dropbox tells me the file is password protected and opens a dialogue box asking for the password

At the same time, at the bottom of the Dropbox window is a blue button labelled “OPEN”

3) Ignore the dialogue box and tap the “OPEN” button. It asks if I want to open the file in Excel or cancel

4) Tap Excel and Excel loads and the file opens (after a while) and also has the dialogue box asking for the password

5) Enter password and the file opens.

Now, here’s the weird bit; most of the time if I try to edit the document in any way it asks me to log in to my Office365 account, (which I don’t have!) but sometimes it just lets me edit, copy, paste, enter new rows, etc.

I usually only want to read the document so not being able to edit (usually) doesn’t matter. (I can do that on my Mac with Office 2011 installed.) It’s still annoying though that iOS 14.2 has bu*****d up what worked perfectly well previously.

There IS still a problem Kipper300 and the answers are on this thread as Bgnmarty says but I too have found the thread a little awkward to follow. So, for the sake of simplicity the answer is to download the free Microsoft Office app (or you can just download the Word app if you prefer) and use that to open the password protected file. This is how it works for me. I keep an encrypted, password protected spreadsheet on Dropbox. If I try to open it directly from Dropbox I get the "null" response. But I also get the option to OPEN in Excel as I've got the (free) app on my phone and iPad. Click on it and Dropbox opens Excel. I get a "Server cannot be found" message - presumably because I've not got an Office 365 subscription but I just ignore that as behind it is the dialogue box to input the file password. I can only read the file, no editing, but that's all I need. Bgnmarty's answer may be simpler so give that a try too, see what works best for you. It does seem that the problem lies with the iOS 14.2 update so hopefully Apple will provide a fix at some point.

go to the App Store and load MS Word (it’s free). Then go to your email and save the password protected word file to your phone. Then go to the word app icon on your phone and open your file and enter your password and it should work.

Thanks for the compliment, glad it helped. The only way Apple can fix the issue is to release another version of iOS. Not sure why some people think Apple can magically jump onto their phone and fix it without changing the software level. I know iOS 14.2.1 did not fix it so am waiting for their next release. However, keep in mind they may have done this intentionally, ha...we may not get an Apple fix :-0 Time will tell.

It's marked as solved... but not for me. Word doc gives me the same error, whether opening within an email or saved in Notes. If I save it to Files (per the workaround described below), it works. At least for now....

Your fix worked like a charm. Thanks. Was a little tricky learning how to access an apple folder one I did everything works great. I just hope that opening an Excel worksheet does not trigger a Microsoft Office subscription. Thanks again.

RBLsr

Yes I know, I saw that too but its not solved until Apple solves it via an iOS update. It appears the algorithm on this form for marking something solved needs a bit of attention. I've seen myself where I thought I solved a certain issue only to find out a day or so later that my solution was not robust enough to withstand all the various ways the issue can happen. I looked at the settings on this forum and could not find a way to remove the Solved marking on that post.

All we have to date is a good work around.

Yeah, I fumbled with that too till I figured it out, everything is easier in hindsight :-) Actually, I "think" I like the work around better than opening it in Apple's preview because now it brings it up in Excel thereby allowing me to use the Excel functions if I want to and its easier to copy and paste from Excel into other iPhone applications. The cells and data are also much clearer when blowing up the spreadsheet to be able to read small print. . . and really, at least on my iPhone, it does not take any longer to click on the file in Files and have it opened and ready for the password than it did in Preview. Same goes for Word.