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Microsoft Excel – How to open a .xml file

Summary

.xml files don’t always open automatically in excel. This guide provides a permanent solution for this ensuring .xml files will open in this app.

Guide

Open file explorer (by searching for this in your windows task bar) and navigate to .xml file you are trying to open. Right click on the file and hover your mouse over open with, then click “Choose another app”

In the new window click ‘Choose another app from your PC’

A new window will open in the address bar paste in:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

Scroll down until you see Excel , click on this and then click open

Lastly ensure you click ‘Always’ to to ensure that .xml files continue to open from Microsoft excel going forward.

FAQ’S

Q: My file still isn’t opening correctly what should I do?

A: Reach out to the person who shared the file and see if it can be sent as a different file type. Then raise a fresh ticket for further support. Please be aware our service desk team are happy to support with issues and service requests but may not be able to fix a faulty file.

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