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hjw13's avatar
hjw13
Collaborator | Level 8
6 years ago

problems saving an excel worksheet to dropbox, automatically saves as corrupted pdf

I'm having problems with Excel/pdf . All my excel files save automatically as a pdf on Dropbox (and yes, I have made sure when I 'Save as' there's the correct file type in the box). Then when I try ...
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  • hjw13's avatar
    hjw13
    6 years ago
    Microsoft was the problem, there was some default setting behind the scenes- I didn’t really understand it but it’s ok now. Thank you for the support and help in clarifying the situation.
hjw13's avatar
hjw13
Collaborator | Level 8
6 years ago

Hi!

Thanks for getting back to me

I don't use the mobile app much

Working from Microsoft office: I creat the excel file in Office 365,, click on 'Save as' and put it into dropbox, file type Excel (xls etc). But When I go to dropbox to open the file it has mysteriously converted to a pdf - which won't open as a pdf because it's says the file is not supported etc.

Working from dropbox: I can use the 'open with' option to access the file as Excel, edit and save. I've tried using 'Save'; also 'Save as' version 2, making sure the file type is excel, but it still automatically saves as a pdf.

There are occasions when I need to send an excel file as an email attachment (not as a link to dropbox). I used to able to do this, but suddenly - a while back- this pdf issue cropped up. 

I don't have the same problem with Word documents, so I suspect it's something to do with the way Dropbox is 'reading' the Excel application.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Dropbox doesn’t convert files from one format to another, so this change must be occurring before it is uploaded to Dropbox.
     
    When you say you’re creating the file on Office 365, are you referring to a local installation of that app, or the web version? 
     
    When the file is saved in the Dropbox folder on your machine, what is the exact filetype you’re seeing there? Can you try saving it to a different location outside of the Dropbox folder to see if it saves as an Excel file?
     
    Is the file extension of the file as it appears on the site a PDF?
     
    Could you confirm that this isn’t your local machine trying to open Excel files in a PDF viewer automatically, instead of opening in Excel?
     
    Any info, including screenshots, would help greatly!
  • hjw13's avatar
    hjw13
    Collaborator | Level 8
    6 years ago

    HI Jay,

    I think you've found the problem. Your reassurance that Dropbox doesn't reformat files has made me have another look at Microsoft. I saved the excel spreadhseet onto my oneDrive - and it saved as a pdf!!

    I'm now contacting Microsoft to see what is happening their end.

    I really appreciate your very quick responses and help - at least I've narrowed down the problem!

     

     

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago

      Let me know how it goes when you get an update on this matter!

      • hjw13's avatar
        hjw13
        Collaborator | Level 8
        6 years ago
        Microsoft was the problem, there was some default setting behind the scenes- I didn’t really understand it but it’s ok now. Thank you for the support and help in clarifying the situation.

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