Is there a free MS Excel app for my new MacBook Pro?

Lawrence Finch wrote:

I use Numbers exclusively for my own spreadsheet needs, and it is mostly compatible with Excel for simple spreadsheets. But Excel sheets that use advanced Excel features still need Excel. An Excel viewer is free, but to edit an Excel sheet you really need the paid version.

I wonder how many people who use Excel use the advanced features? I suspect not most. For a lot of people, Numbers might be a great solution, but "Excel" has become synonymous with "spreadsheet" to the point that many people don't even know to look for alternatives.

I don't use Numbers for most things because I primarily used spreadsheets for work and send them back and forth to other people.

Likewise Google Sheets, which works on iOS devices.

We use Google Sheets a lot at work, too, for collaboration. I have discovered that Google Docs mangles the formatting we need to use for uploading to federal grant portals.

LibreOffice is a free open source app with spreadsheet, word processor, database and drawing. The spreadsheet is very similar Excel, has same formulae and can also run Excel macros. I swapped about 5 years ago from Excel to LibreOffice and never regretted it. All my Excel files worked fine with very few changes required and most of those were around formatting charts.

I use Numbers exclusively for my own spreadsheet needs, and it is mostly compatible with Excel for simple spreadsheets. But Excel sheets that use advanced Excel features still need Excel. An Excel viewer is free, but to edit an Excel sheet you really need the paid version.

Another very good and free product is LibreOffice for Mac, Windows and Linux. Its compatibility with MS Office is almost 100%. Likewise Google Sheets, which works on iOS devices.

Depending on your needs and you flexibility, Apple's free Numbers app is an option. It doesn't have all the same features as Excel, but for some people, that can be a good thing.

Alexleo2212 wrote:

Does anyone know if I can obtain a free MS Excel app for my new macbookpro?

+1 for Zurarczurx's recommendation.