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I can no longer open Powerpoint or Excel files on my Mac.

I can no longer open Powerpoint or Excel files on my Mac. I can see the files in finder but when I try to open one I get this error msg: "Powerpoint cannot open the type of file represented by <file path><filename>.ppt (or .pptx)" Same thing with Excel. When I try to open the file from within the application, I get this error message: "Powerpoint cannot access <filepath><filename>.pptx because the file has been moved or deleted." (And, no, it hasn't been moved or deleted.) I get that same error message when I try to create a file in the application and save it.


Now, I have sent some of these "afflicted" files to my wife's Mac via our dropbox, and she can open them with no problem. (She has the same OS and software as me). So the files themselves are not corrupted. This problem surfaced recently for no apparent reason. I hadn't just updated anything. I have since trashed my Microsoft Office folder (with all the Office apps) and re-installed. Same problem. I am using Microsoft Office 2008, with OSX 10/10.4 on a MacBook Pro. So far no problems with my Word files (thank god!).

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), Microsoft Office 2008

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 1:06 PM

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10 replies

Aug 10, 2015 1:15 PM in response to garglebargle

Would you give this a try:


Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion or Lion


Boot to the Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.


If that doesn't help then try this:


Rebuild LaunchServices Database


Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt paste in the following command in its entirety:


find /System/Library/Frameworks -type f -name "lsregister" -exec {} -kill -seed -r \;


Press RETURN. Wait for the Terminal prompt to return after which you can quit the Terminal.


If that doesn't help, then try this:


Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive


Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.


Alternatively, see:


Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive


Choose the version you have installed now:


OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X

OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X

OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X

OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet

if possible because it isthree times faster than wireless.

Aug 10, 2015 1:29 PM in response to garglebargle

See also this thread

http://www.officeformachelp.com/2012/11/office-2011-applications-fail-to-work-wi th-volumes-named-home/



And when all else fails, find your original install CD and your MS Office 2011 product key,


From my own experience, the MS Office 2011 may have become corrupted.

By reinstalling Office 2011 you might be able to address these problems.


The current version of Office 2011 is 14.5.3


First - find your Office 2011 install disc with the product key # - and only then remove Office according to MS instructions

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2398768


Or go here to DianefromOregon's site for help removing Office 2011:

http://www.officeformachelp.com/2012/12/office-for-mac-2011-remove-office/


then Reinstall from DVD

then enter your Product #

After successfully reinstalling Office 2011, update your Office product by going to the Help menu within Word or Excel or PowerPoint and select Update.



How to locate product keys

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2279109


or here on locating product keys

http://office.about.com/od/MicrosoftOfficeMac/a/Best-3-Ways-To-Find-Microsoft-Of fice-For-Mac-Key-Codes.htm


Or

http://try.officeformac.com/store?Action=ContentTheme&Locale=en_US&SiteID=msmacu s&pbPage=CSTable&resid=VSGpKAoydBAAAINBCDQAAABU&rests=1428269373647


This note is updated as of August 10, 2015

Aug 16, 2015 9:48 AM in response to garglebargle

Try a restart.


Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.


Isolating an issue by using another user account


If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.


Safe Mode - About



Safe Mode - Yosemite

Aug 16, 2015 5:11 PM in response to Eric Root

Tried everything so far and nothing works:

- Run disk utility to repair permissions and verify disk

- rebuilt Lauch Services database using Terminal as described in Kappy's post

- boot into safe mode and try to open Excel/Ppt files there

- re-installed OSX after backing up

- re-installed Office 2008 from CD after following the painstaking removal procedure from Sparkleberry's link (mine's 2008 but the instructions for 2011 are mostly similar)

- created new admin user account and tried opening the files there

Is there anything I'm missing? I didn't install any new apps or even updates around the time this problem surfaced. Is there anything short of erasing my hard drive and reinstalling everything that might help?

I can no longer open Powerpoint or Excel files on my Mac.

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