In this guide, we will show you various workarounds to mitigate the issues of macOS Sequoia with MS Word and Excel files. The fifteenth iteration of the OS build has brought quite a few intriguing goodies to the fore. Some of the noteworthy ones include the likes of iPhone mirroring, updates to Safari, Window tiling, a new Passwords app, and Apple Intelligence among others. However, a slew of bugs have also managed to creep in, thereby giving quite a tough time to the end users.
In this regard, the latest one to make its presence felt is the inability of macOS Sequoia to identify MS Word and Excel files. Whenever the user tries to open the file via its associated Microsoft app, they get the following error message: “Apple could not verify “xxxxxxxxx.docx” is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy”. After this, the Finder ends up opening the file via Preview.
As far as the culprit behind this bug is concerned, well, it could be due to the Launch Services database being corrupt [for the unaware, this database determines which application should open a document based on its extension]. With that said, there do exist a couple of nifty workarounds that should help you rectify this problem. So without further ado, let’s check them out.
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Fix macOS Sequoia Issues with MS Word and Excel Files
It is recommended that you try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and then see which one spells out success. So with that in mind, let’s get started.
FIX 1: Give Full Disk Access
First off, try giving the full disk access to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. While this is generally not considered a safe approach in the case of third-party apps, but here, we are dealing with the official Microsoft apps hence it shouldn’t be a cause of any concern. So refer to the below steps and give this fix a try right away:
- To begin with, launch System Settings and go to Privacy and Security.
- Then go to Full Disk Access, hit the plus icon, and authenticate yourself.
- Now select the Microsoft apps and click Open. They will now be added.
- Check if you can now open MS Word and Excel files in macOS Sequoia.
FIX 2: Force Open using MS App
You can also force the files to be opened by Microsoft apps from the Finder menu. Here’s how it can be done:
- Right-click on the required file and select Open With > Others.
- Choose the desired Microsoft app and check Always Open With.
- If your app is not there, then change Recommended to All Apps.
- Now see if you can open MS Word/Excel files in macOS Sequoia.
FIX 3: Directly Open via MS Word
Another approach that you can take is to directly open the required file from within MS Word/Excel itself [by going to File > Open]. Though it would require a tad additional effort, but will at least get the job done. [NOTE: if you are still facing any issues, then change the open mode to “Recover Text” and check out the result].
FIX 4: Reinstall Microsoft Office
If none of the aforementioned tweaks worked in your favor, then your last course of action should be to uninstall MS Office from your Mac and then reinstall its fresh build. Here’s how it can be done [make sure you backup all your Microsoft files before proceeding with the below steps]
- To begin with, open Finder > Applications.
- Then Command + Click to select all the Microsoft 365 for Mac applications.
- Now Ctrl + Click the application you selected and click Move to Trash.
- Then open Finder and press Command+Shift+G. Type in ~/Library and hit Go.
- Open the Containers folder > Ctrl+Click the below-listed folders > Move to Trash
- Microsoft Error Reporting
- Microsoft Excel
- com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
- com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft OneNote
- Now go to the Library folder and open Group Containers. Then send the below folders to Trash
- UBF8T346G9.ms
- UBF8T346G9.Office
- UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost
- If there is any Office app in the Dock, then right-click on it and select Options > Remove from Dock.
- You may now download and install the latest version of Microsoft Office from its official site.
That’s it. These were the various methods that should help you fix the macOS Sequoia with MS Word and Excel files. As far as the official stance on this matter is concerned, the developers are yet to acknowledge this issue, let alone give out any ETA for the rollout of a fix. As and when any of these two things happen, we will update this guide accordingly. In the meantime, the aforementioned workarounds are your best bet.
