įor many users, this is confusing because the file is already saved as a. xlsx file extension still shows as being in. Sometimes when working between different versions of Microsoft Office you may find that a file saved with a. This alerts you to the fact that your file is not in the most current format available and therefore it will not be able to utilise all the newest features of the program. When a file is opened which uses an old file extension or was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office, you will see appear in the title bar of the program. Where possible it is best to use the latest file extensions for your files. The new file extensions provide many benefits including better file compression, better privacy controls, improved data recovery methods, and easier detection of files containing macros. An M will allow a user to identify the file uses XML with macros, whilst a file with an X appended will identify the file uses XML with no macros. These new file extensions now have either an m or x appended to the end.
XML is essentially a definition of how a file will be structured and it gave new functionality to the Office suite of programs. The latest Microsoft Office file formats are based on XML, which stands for Extensible Markup Language. With the launch of Microsoft Office 2007 a new file extension was introduced for each program and these new extensions have continued on to the latest versions we are using today. In older versions of Microsoft Excel users became familiar with the file extension used for each program. To understand compatibility mode and how we fix this you need to understand file extensions. Today I want to explain Compatibility Mode and file formats in relation to Microsoft Excel. A common question I see during training is “Why do my files say in the title bar area?” and this is a good question.