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Forum Discussion
Can’t edit Excel .xlsx in iphone (app is updated)
Hi, I hope someone can help me out.
My iphone app version is 322.2.2
And I am trying to edit through ny iphone app an excel document (which I created on my Mac and is saved as an .xlsx.
I click on rhe doc and then click “open” (which is in a gray box at the bottom)
but I dont get the editing (pencil icon) option after that, I Can only share, save to Files ot print. I used to edit my documentes right there and the changes would be made so that when I accesed the document again either from Mac, ipad or iphone, the changes where up to date
Hope someone can help me out 🙂
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey SBabiche, thanks for joining our Community!
To edit an Office file through the Dropbox app, firstly you'll need to also install the appropriate Office app, in this case the Excel app.
Once that's installed, open the file from the Dropbox app and tap on the "open with" button (the square with an arrow right below the "Open" button).
This should allow you to choose the Microsoft Excel app, so you can edit your file and your edits will save back to Dropbox.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions.
First, the Dropbox iOS app does not recognize the Microsoft 365 iPhone app. I installed that, then had to also install the individual Excel app for the Dropbox app to show "Open with . . .", with "Microsoft Excel" as the option. Instructions should clarify that you need the specific app (Excel, Word, etc.).
Second, the instructions from Hannah for editing an Excel spreadsheet are not quite clear. [See below for better instructions which do not require linking Dropbox to Microsoft.]
Here's what I found for opening an Excel spreadsheet to edit it:
1. Install Microsoft Excel app from iPhone app store.
2. Open the Excel spreadsheet in the Dropbox app.
3. At the bottom of the window, click on the box with an arrow pointing up and to the right (northeast if it were a compass). This box is to the left of the Link button (looks like a link in a chain) and the Share button.
4. A pop-up will say in gray "Open with . . ." with "Microsoft Excel" below it. Click on "Microsoft Excel"
[The instructions from Hannah have 3 and 4 in reverse order, which is confusing.]
5. If you have not linked Dropbox with Microsoft Office, you will get a pop-up which says
" Sign in to Dropbox to link with Microsoft Office Integration.
I stopped at that point. I agree with the OP that you should not have to link Dropbox to Microsoft to be able to edit an Office document.
Luckily, you can open an Excel spreadsheet saved in Dropbox from the Excel app, without linking Dropbox to Microsoft
1. Download Excel from the iPhone app store if you don't already have it.
2. Open the Excel app.
3. Tap on the icon of a folder on the bottom right of the Excel app screen.
4. Tap on "Files App"
5. At the top of the screen it will show which iPhone files folder it's currently in. If it's not Dropbox, click the back button on the top left. In my case, that was marked "On My iPhone". Once I did that, the screen showed folders on the phone, but not Dropbox. The back button at the top left now said "Browse". Click on that. [Essentially, keep tapping on the top left back button until you get to the Browse page.]
6. You should now be at a page titled "Browse" top center, with "Cancel" on the left. In the Locations list in that page you should see Dropbox as an option, likely below "iCloud Drive" and "On My iPhone". Click on Dropbox.
7. You will see the files and folders in Dropbox. Navigate to the Excel file you want to edit and open it.
8. You can now edit the file.
The default for the Excel app is to "autosave" the file. When I went away from the file in the Excel iPhone app, and checked it on my Mac, the file had the edit I'd made.
Note: The first time I tried this it worked. When I tried it again I got an odd message about changing Privacy Settings. However, quitting both the Dropbox and Excel apps and starting over got it working again. After I did a small edit, and went out of the file in the Excel app, and tried to go back, I got the same Privacy Settings message, and had to quit and restart again. This appears to be a bug. I will need to play with this some more.
Good luck.
- thanks, excel app is up yo date 🥴 dont know why it wont work.
It only works if I open excel app and edit there, then it will be updated in dropbox, but the edit was made through excel app, not dropbox app (and i like dropbox because I have passcode to enter)- Hannah
Thanks for getting back to me, SBabiche.
I'm afraid you can't edit an Office file just through the Dropbox app; you'll need the Excel app to edit it and any edits you make, will save to Dropbox as well.
Are you having trouble editing the file when following the steps I gave you in my previous reply?
