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Sometimes, Excel does not work properly, especially when running with Mac OSX (known issues when macros are involved). Check the Apple Menu «About this Mac» to know your OSX version.


1. Firstly, your hard disk name should not be more than 25 characters long and not have «funny» characters with accent, punctuation or such as « / _ * ’ ( )». In other words, keep it simple and change your hard disk name if not. Restart your computer, repair permissions (see point 4 below) and see if Excel works.


Secondly, you have to leave all Office components in their default file locations.


2. Clean Office 2016 and above without uninstalling it

  1. 1.Display the Library folder (see 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 above).


2. In the Finder menu, open Library> Containers, move the following files to the Recycle Bin. Some files may not be present.

  1. com.microsoft.errorreporting

  2. com.microsoft.Excel

  3. com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess

  4. com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2

  5. com.microsoft.Outlook

  6. com.microsoft.Powerpoint

  7. com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService

  8. com.microsoft.Word

  9. com.microsoft.onenote.mac

Warning: Outlook data will be deleted when you move the three folders mentioned in this step to the Recycle Bin. You must back up these folders before deleting them.


3. Click the Back arrow to return to the Library folder, and then open Group Containers. Move to the Recycle Bin the following files:

  1. UBF8T346G9.ms

  2. UBF8T346G9.Office

  3. UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost


3. If Excel still doesn’t work, you may try to create a new administrator user account in OSX. Open a session with this new account and see if Excel works. If it does, it means that the problem is with the original user account, not with Excel neither with OSX. Therefore, you should transfer all the User data (the «House» folder) from the old account to the new one with the help of an external hard disk. Check now if everything works and if yes, you can delete the old user account.


4. If Excel still doesn’t work, the problem could that Office has been (re)installed without first being completely removed carefully. In order to do so follow these instructions and re-install Office and allow AutoUpdate to bring Office up to date (Excel menu Help/Search for updates). I suggest to test if the specific Excel file that caused the problem on opening works for every free update installed because it may be one of these updates that causes a problem.


5. If Excel still doesn’t work properly, you may try now to repair your disks permissions (it is good to do it frequently anyway). Open the Disk Utility program in the Application/Utilities folder, select your hard disk on the left and click on the «Repair permissions» button.


6. The next step would be ideally to rebuild your volume header and directory information with a disk maintenance utility such as Drive Genius or DiskWarrior (but they are not free!). If you don’t have these software, go to the next step.


7. If repairing permissions and rebuilding don't fix the problem, then either something is interfering with the proper installation of Microsoft Office or your Mac OS operating system is defective and Mac OS itself needs to be reinstalled.


8. Completely remove Office 2011


But, prior to reinstall Mac OS, the next troubleshooting step would be to boot in Safe Mode. Hold the shift key down while your Mac restarts. It takes a long time for your Mac to boot to safe mode. Safe mode prevents any applications from starting automatically when you boot your Mac. When in Safe Mode, follow the instructions  below to completely remove Office 2011.


Before you begin...

  1. You must be signed in as administrator. If you own your own personal Mac, you probably already are.
    NOTE: If you're using a Mac that's part of a network at work, you might have to ask someone in your IT organization for help with signing in as administrator.

  2. Make sure there's nothing in Trash that you want to keep.


There are several things to remove. This article steps you through each one.


IMPORTANT: The location of certain files are different if you have Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. To check if it is installed, open Word, and then click About Word from the Word menu. If the version number is 14.2.0 or above, you have Service Pack 2 and you should follow the Service Pack 2 steps when provided in this article.


Step 1: Remove the Microsoft Office 2011 folder


  1. 1Click Go > Applications.

  2. 2Drag the Microsoft Office 2011 folder to Trash.

  3. NOTE: Removing preferences using the steps below will delete any customizations that were made. These customizations include changes to toolbars, custom dictionaries, and keyboard shortcuts that were created.


Step 2: Remove com.microsoft files from Library > Preferences


  1. 1Hold down the OPTION key while you click Go.
    NOTE: Why hold down the Option key? The Library folder is a hidden folder, this way you can display it.

  2. 2Click Home and open Library.

  3. 3Open Preferences and sort files and folders by alphabetical order.
    NOTE: If you have Office 2016 for Mac installed on your computer, DO NOT remove the file com.microsoft.autoupdate2.plist.

  4. 4Drag all files that begin with "com.microsoft" to Trash.

  5. 5Still in Preferences, open ByHost, and drag all files that begin with "com.microsoft" to Trash.

  6. 6Before continuing, if you created custom templates that you want to keep, copy them to another folder.
    Back in Library, open Application Support > Microsoft, and drag the Office folder to Trash.


Step 3: Remove com.microsoft.office.licensing files from Computer > Library folders


  1. 1Click Go > Computer > double-click your hard disk icon.
    The default name of your hard disk is Macintosh HD.

  2. 2Open Library, and then open LaunchDaemons. Drag com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist to Trash.

  3. 3Back in Library, open Preferences. Drag com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist to Trash.

  4. 4Back in Library, open PrivilegedHelperTools. Drag com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper to Trash.
    NOTE: If you have Office 2016 for Mac installed on your computer, DO NOT remove any files with V2 in the name. These files are all specific to Office 2016 for Mac.

  5. 5On the Apple menu, click Restart.


Step 4: Remove Microsoft folders and Office 2011 files



  1. 1Click Go > Computer, and double-click your hard disk icon.
    The default name of your hard disk is Macintosh HD.

  2. 2Open Library, and then open Application Support.

  3. 3Drag the Microsoft folder to Trash.
    WARNING: If you have the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in installed, you may need to reinstall if after removing this folder. Go here to reinstall Microsoft Silverlight.

  4. 4Back in Library, open Fonts. Drag the Microsoft folder to Trash.

  5. 5Back in Library, open Receipts. Drag any files that begin with "Office2011_" to Trash.
    NOTE: These files are not always found on the computer.

  6. 6Make sure all the files and folders in the Trash can be deleted. On the Finder menu, click Empty Trash.

  7. 7On the Apple menu, click Restart.


Step 5: Move to desktop and rename the Microsoft User Data folder

  1. 1Click Go > Computer, and double-click your hard disk icon.
    The default name of your hard disk is Macintosh HD.

  2. 2Open Library, and then open Application Support.

  3. 3Drag the Microsoft folder to Trash.
    WARNING: If you have the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in installed, you may need to reinstall if after removing this folder. Go here to reinstall Microsoft Silverlight.

  4. 4Back in Library, open Fonts. Drag the Microsoft folder to Trash.

  5. 5Back in Library, open Receipts. Drag any files that begin with "Office2011_" to Trash.
    NOTE: These files are not always found on the computer.

  6. 6Make sure all the files and folders in the Trash can be deleted. On the Finder menu, click Empty Trash.

  7. 7On the Apple menu, click Restart.


Step 6: Remove Office application icons


  1. 1Hold down the CONTROL key, and then click an Office application icon in the Dock such as Microsoft Word. Do this for each icon in your dock.

  2. 2Click Options > Remove from Dock.


Step 7 : (optional but radical): remove hidden Microsoft files


  1. 3.Download the EasyFind app (free)

  2. 4.Enter "Microsoft" and search for the remaining files with this label on your hard disk.

  3. 5.Delete them by displaying them first in the Finder with the "View in Finder" button of EasyFind

  4. 6.Empty the trash


Then reinstall and allow AutoUpdate to bring Office up to date.


9. Delete Office 2016 completely


1. Remove Office 2016 for Mac Applications

  1. Open Finder> Applications.

  2. Move all Office 2016 for Mac applications to the Trash.

2. See point 2

3. See points 8, step 7


Then reinstall by allowing AutoUpdate to update Office.


10. Next, while still in Safe Mode, run Font Book application in Applications folder and validate ALL your fonts (select all fonts with cmd A). Delete any font that doesn't validate completely. It’s good to do it regularly anyway.


11. Now, restart your mac in safe boot again. Empty the trash. Try Excel. If Excel still doesn’t work, it's time to reinstall Mac OS X with its latest version. But ideally I suggest to format first your hard disk with 7 passes (take few hours but your computer will be like a new one).


12. If you want to format your computer, you must boot your computer from another computer or hard disk that have an OSX installed on it. Launch Disk Utilities and select the second tab «Erase». In the «Security Options», choose 7 passes (or 0 if your are in a hurry). Once it is done, restart you computer, install the latest OSX version or the version you have available and all your other applications (this can take some time!).


13. Now restart your computer normally. If Excel is not working properly then some other software that starts up when you start your Mac is causing trouble. Use a process of elimination to track down the culprit and disable it. You can see which program is launched on starting in the System Preferences tab Accounts and Groups / Opening.