# Is there a basic Windows spreadsheet viewer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 15, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211 "2007-05-15T17:58:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211/1 "2007-05-15T17:58:54Z")

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Since I have a copy of Excel, I’m having a hard time helping my friend fix his computer problem:

When he opens an attached excel file it has become associated with Adobe reader and he gets an error message.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211/2 "2007-05-15T18:22:32Z")

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You can download an Excel viewer at [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com), if that’s what you’re hoping for. To change the file association, I think we’re going to need to know what version of Windows.

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**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211/3 "2007-05-16T01:09:53Z")

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Have him save the document to his desktop, then hold down the Shift key, right-click it, go to **Open With** , **Choose Program** , select the appropriate program, and check the **Always use this program to open these files** box. This works on all recent versions of Windows.

In addition to the [viewer](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=excel%20viewer) which **KneadToKnow** mentioned, another option would be to install [OpenOffice](http://www.openoffice.org/) and associate .xls files with Calc.

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**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211/4 "2007-05-16T01:25:50Z")

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Google also offers a free online spreadsheet program that you can upload .xls files to and manipulate. The site is [http://docs.google.com](http://docs.google.com)

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-basic-windows-spreadsheet-viewer/404211/5 "2007-05-16T15:53:00Z")

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**Number** ’s solution to the file association issue is excellent, widely applicable, and I’m embarrased I didn’t suggest it myself.