MacOS15 / Sequoia - problems with Microsoft files

some of the things in this post work: Pages no longer opens Word (.docx) docume… - Apple Community

however, they work until the next reboot, especially if you have enabled under iCloud -> iCloud Drive -> Desktop and Documents folder. If this is disabled, this might survive reboots as well. 

Was hoping that b-e-t-a might solve something, and I've tried, but it is not. Running 16.89.1 (24091630) Excel here.

Everything is back in order for me after:

• update to Sequoia 15.0.1
• deleting all old apps on the Mac which were not anymore compatible/updatable (but kept over the various updates of the OS)
• updating my connected mobile phones to iOS 18.0.1
• deleting some Apps on the phones I was not using (old/not updatable or also like Skype and some other social networks not useful).
• using Onyx tool on the MAC to clean the caches and launch services. I had to do it several times to get back first the icons for the docx Word files and its Preview and, after another Onyx session, I got back the xlsx Excel icons and preview.

finally ! (at least for the Office tools, I still need to check if there are not other side effects).

:-)

I only open Word documents in a current release of Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, or Pages. The latter only opens them read-only so not a threat. I don't let Canva, Viber, Skype, or any other application not specifically designed to touch Word documents corrupt them. I have no issue opening a wide range of Word .docx documents in macOS Sequoia (released) in any application designed to open them including Word v16.89.1.

As I have mentioned to others, it sounds to me as though the Launch Services database is messed up which is what determines the application to open a document based on its extension. I would pick one of those Word .docx documents and perform a Finder Get Info on it. On that panel, choose MS Word in the Open With section, and then click through the Change All… button. That part is key.

Next, to be on the safe side, I would open that .docx in the current version of LibreOffice Writer and then resave it as a Word 2010 - 365 .docx document. Wait until the next paragraph before attempting to open that updated .docx. Note: On that LO download page, they offer both macOS (Intel) or macOS (Apple (Silicon). I use the latter on my M2 Mini Pro.

Next, boot into Safe Boot mode which will automatically clear caches and rebuild the Launch Services database. Then reboot normally. When you next right-click on a Word .docx document in the Finder, the top choice should be MS Word, Pages, or LibreOffice depending on what you have installed.

Microsoft is not to blame here. The finder that should open to select directories / files does not work. Not only for Office apps. For me the problem occurs both for Office and Apple’s core wallpaper application. (I can not open the dialogue to choose files.)

I was here to run away from Windows. With the Sequia, I feel as if I am using Windows again.

My symptoms are different, but the commonality is Sequoia and Microsoft. I'm on a corp. network, so my files are not all local. I cannot "Save As". I've logged out of microsoft live, and logged back in. Still can't Save As.

As soon as I try to do any file operations, word, excel, powerpoint, I get the spinning color wheel for about 2 min and it times out. I can Save, but can't Save As. Changed variable was Sequoia.

Any other buzz out there as to the problem and a possible fix? We can not be the only people experiencing this.

Hi everyone,

Just providing an update.

My MacBook Air M1, running macOS 15.0, is still corrupting files whenever I try to "save as" .docx, whether I'm using my own template or a blank document.

However, the corruption doesn't always occur, making the issue inconsistent.

But I noticed that after going into macOS recovery mode and attempting to repair the Macintosh HD data, the error doesn't seem to occur immediately. However, after a few saves, the error may occur again.

The workaround I’ve found, when using Office 365, is to save documents in OneDrive and only save the final version as a .pdf on my server, unfortunately.

Hope this helps!

I had previously reported that I managed to resolve the problems with Microsoft 365 by making various tweaks on in Settings. Everything worked - albeit I have found both my Macbook Pro M3 Max and my i9 Macbook Pro had been a bit slow to boot, or load things since the upgrade to Sequoia.

I have just seen an update 15.01 from Apple and I have now applied to the i9. I can confirm that my Word can open docx files without throwing a tantrum. Excel can open xlsx files.

Pdfs are opening fine.

And my Word doc can be saved as pdfs.

Now I have to update my M3 Max...please, please, please work!

I have now updated both M3 Max and the i9 MacBook Pros to the Sequoia 15.0.1. Microsoft 365 seems to open and save .docx and .xlsx files fine. The conversation to PDF is also ok.

could have done without the hassle.

I can't tell from this long thread if there's a consensus as to how to fix the problem. In my case, I was fine until i loaded 15.0.1 and then all these issues arose. I've reinstalled Word with a different 365 account, still fails.

But I can open everything just fine in a different User account (at least so far, knock on wood), so it doesn't seem to be a problem inherent in the app or Sequoia, no?

I've just about finished setting up the new user account to emulate what I had got used to in the original account, although it was a royal pain. But I would love to be able to go back.

So if someone could tell me what is actually working, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Thanks! This solution worked for me too! I was encountering an issue when trying to open Excel files, with the error message: 'There is no application set to open the document.' When I attempted to update the 'Open with' option, Excel was not available as a highlighted choice. However, by using the workaround of changing the 'Get Info' settings and selecting 'Open with' from there, I was able to resolve the issue.

I am having issues with printing, saving to PDF, and 'saving as' some MSWord files ever since I updated to iOS 15.1. I am using Office365 updated on an M1 Macbook Pro.

I either see the spinning ball OR is quits suddenly. I have also noticed similar issues with Preview but they are not as frequent.

Strangely the problem is not consistent. Some word docs cause more trouble than others. Not sure of a pattern yet.

There is some sort of solution on the Microsoft chatboard from May 28, 2021 for a similar problem. Too long to type but maybe you can find it with this info: "In response to Clark Cui MSFT post on May 28, 2021"

I have not tried this yet.

Reinstalling the MacOs as described within the following link solved my issue: How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

The problems for Sequia are:

1. During migration the "Files & Folders" lost its state
2. There is now way, since the plus sign is missing at the bottom of the list.

PS: Chrome luckily has reach to the downloads folder that's why this time I could upload. From the desktop, it was not able to do so.