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

I assume you save it to files on your desktop. (I'm not about to recreate that whole gigantic file in the app.)

Then you said you go to files and click on it and it opens in Office. How do you get it from the file you saved on your desktop to the app on your iPhone/iPad?

When I long press, I get these choices: Quick look, save to files, share, copy.

When I choose save to fiiles, I have many options, but the main categories are "on my iPhone" "Icloud drive". Under "On my iphone" I have several choices, but the only ones that are even close to logical are Excel, Office, Pages.

If I choose "Excel", for example, then I open the Excel app, it's nowhere in there.

If I choose "Office", open Office "recent docs will appear here" shows up, but no docs. No matter where I go in these apps, that blasted file isn't there.

Thanking you in advance..........

Well, sometimes I just get lucky! :-) I guess its still true what they say....a pic is worth 1,000 words. Glad it worked out for you and thanks for the compliment...I'm happy to help and hope my pic helps others who are struggling with this. Don't hate Apple :-0

This is a reply to clear up most of the complaints on this issue. I went to IOS14.2 on my iPhone8 and my iPad and encrypted files that used to work didn't any more. I use them infrequently, and didn't notice until Apple (pretty quickly, it seems, after 14.2) released 14.3. Applied it to both the phone and the pad and happened to need to open one of the encrypted Word files (made with Word 2007 because I can't see the benefit of Office 365). I got the Decryption failed(null) message on the word file.

I'm still at 14.3 and from reading this thread I heard about the Word app.

Downloaded it and now both files reside in a folder named Word (because it's there and a handy place to put them) and they decrypt just fine.

App Store version for Word and I expect for Excel is an excellent workaround.

But the IOS Developers and Testers need to develop some use cases that are off the beaten path for us Mainframe and PC geezers.

I have a problem with the way Microsoft pushes updates out with no choice below the Enterprise versions I would really hate to see Apple take the same course. I know Steve's dead now, but I believe that if he wanted to, he would come back down and take control. He's the Root Commander of the universe.

Anyway, the Word App was free but I had to sign in to the App Store with my AppleID and password and then, for some reason, to Microsoft with my MSID and password.

I am having this same error when trying to open a password protected .xlsx file. I see this goes back to November 2020. What is going on? Is there or isn't there a fix or update that corrects this issue. This is crazy!

Thank you for this. My issue wasn't exactly the same though, it was that I couldn't open the protected files in the iOS Dropbox app. Anyway, the difference to your advice was that instead of opening the file, I chose to Export to the MS Office app (which I downloaded following your advice).

Worked perfectly.

Also, I've just updated iOS to 14.3 and no such luck fixing the issue via Dropbox.

Excel wont help in my case as the Drive App from Synology open the Excel File within the App and there is no option to export or transfer to Excel on iOS. I can only say it has worked in the past but with latest and previous iOS it is no longer possible to open password protected Excel Files. Apple please fix this.

Update: I received this from Dropbox;

"We are aware of the issue where, after updating to IOS 14.2.X, Microsoft Office documents that are encrypted with a password are no longer able to be previewed in the Dropbox mobile app.

I have passed this information to our engineers who are currently looking into the issue. I apologize for any inconvenience."

I have the same issue. I use dropbox to sync a spreadsheet between my windows laptop and my iphone. When I try to open the file on my iphone, I get Decryption Failed. (null). When is this going to be fixed?

I am a new iPhone user (iPhone 12 Pro), coming from the Android world. I never experienced this problem on my Android phone. Please let me know as soon as the "Decryption failed(null) error is resolved. The only thing that I can do when this happens is to power off and restart the phone.

I contacted Apple care support and after three escalations finally got to level two and was told they are aware of the issue and are working hard to resolve it but in the meantime open the documents with Excel.

Ok folks, Apple has now fixed the issue, download and install iOS 14.4 and start using your password protected files as you used to. I did and verified it works.

Note: You will not find any mention of the issue under the Fixed Bugs section of the update

I did and it works! Thank you for getting this solved and for your patience with our questions and comments. Your initial workaround was a life saver and gave me the option to access the full excel file if needed. So something gained thru the frustration.

Finally! 14.4 works, can now view encrypted files directly from Dropbox. May not be entirely Apple’s fault. I read on a Dropbox thread that their engineers were working on it too. Could be a joint effort.

With the update it now works! But a weird thing happened on another front. When I went to my car as I was driving, place a phone call (my iPhone is paired with my 2020 Nissan Murano). It showed as ringing on the screen but reverted back to my iPhone. Stopped and restarted the car ensuring the iPhone was paired and ready, same problem. When I got home I deleted the car on the iPhone and the iPhone on the car, turned the car off and on and restarted the pairing. It worked. Just in case somebody found a similar problem.

V/r

Rick