Excel – Older version of Excel will not open XLSX files

compatibilitymicrosoft excelmicrosoft-excel-2007

I've been using an old version of Office 97 (with Macros disabled for security) for some time. Recently I got a new Windows 10 v1803 PC and re-installed Office 97. With the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack installed, Word opens every .docx file I've tried…but Excel always fails to open .xlsx files with this message:

I have tried:

Opening file in Google Sheets and exporting as a fresh .xlsx file
Installed SP1, SP2 & SP3 for Office 2007 Compatibility Pack
Renamed the extension from .xlsx to .xls (why this is supposed to work beats me, but I found this suggestion in an online search)

Always the same result of "Not recognised". This worked on my earlier Windows 8.1 machine. Any ideas?

UPDATE

Based on one of the comments, I upgraded my installation from Office 97 SR-1 to SR-2. However, the result is the same: Word opens .docx files but Excel is not able to open .xlsx files. The Compatibility mode for Excel has also been switched between Off and various Windows XP modes without helping.

Best Answer

The Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3 (SP3) is supposed to enable using the new format in older Office versions.

You should be using Office 97 SR-2 with all possible updates.

Better take backup of your installation before starting, just in case.

If Service Pack 3 is too recent for your setup, then there also exist
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 2 (SP2).

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