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How can we do basic spreadsheet editing on a mobile device?

The other main cloud storage providers both have spreadsheet editing software. And they apparently no longer support Dropbox. My only option to have a shared spreadsheet stored in the cloud with easy editing ability seems to be to use either Google sheets (with Google drive) or Microsoft Excel (with one drive).

Your PDF markup feature is fantastic. Something like that would be great. Hit the edit button and bingo you can enter some data. No downloading or opening in a 3rd party app.

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idwds

I've gotten it to work on my android using Excel. In Excel you need to tap the 'Open' tab at the bottom then '+Add a Place', then you can pick Dropbox and sign in (again of course --I signed in a half dozen times already in this app). Then it just works. Everything works after that.

At least that's the solution for today. Who knows after the next update.

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Rich

idwds wrote:
My only option to have a shared spreadsheet stored in the cloud with easy editing ability seems to be to use either Google sheets (with Google drive) or Microsoft Excel (with one drive).

Dropbox also has the Microsoft Online apps, and they're free to use if you have a Basic, Plus or Family account. If you have a Dropbox team account, you'll need an enterprise Microsoft account with a license.

https://help.dropbox.com/integrations/microsoft-office-faq

idwds

That sounds great. However it does not work on my phone. It says to edit the spreadsheet I need to open it in the Excel app. Then the link doesn't work. It basically is completely broken for Excel.

I do have the the app installed and I watched the little video instructions in the link you sent.

Hannah

Hey idwds, I hope it's okay to jump in here.

Do you currently have the Excel app installed on your mobile device? If not, you'll need to install it to be able to edit Excel files through the Dropbox app.

If the link to the app in the article Rich hyperlinked isn't working for you, you can install it from your App Store/Google Play store.

In any case, I do understand that this isn't your ideal process, so I'll make sure to pass your feedback along to our team about this.

Thanks!

idwds

Yes I do have the Excel app installed. My Excel is logged in to two different accounts: my personal (current active) and an enterprise account.

idwds

Hopefully these screenshots came in order. It requires the Excel app (1). Then it opens a blank tab and nothing else (2). Then I try to open from Excel using the browser button. (3) There it is "book (1).xlsx". (4) So I opened it successfully in Excel here, but it said "read only. Make a copy to edit". So I saved a copy in the Dropbox folder. It named it "book (1)_263748286382.xlsx. Ok whatever. I then peeked into my Dropbox and found it there. I clicked on this new file and it brought me right into Excel again. Of course I'm obviously signed in to that Dropbox account but it says I'm not.(5) Now it throws an error. (6). I've wrestled with this yesterday and even had chatgpt try to help me. It kept sending me back to the login page for Dropbox within Excel.

Nancy

Hey @idwds! Can you follow these steps and make sure that only one of your Dropbox accounts is currently connected to your Microsoft Excel app (the one that the file(s) you're trying to open are currently saved in)?

idwds

It is only the personal account that is active and has storage listed.

Hannah

Thanks for the updates and the screenshots, @idwds.

If I understand correctly, this happens when trying to edit Excel files from a shared link someone sent you, right?

Does the same thing happen with files already saved in your Dropbox account and not ones you save from a shared link?

idwds

Actually no I haven't tried to share it with myself using a link until you mention it. But that does exactly the same thing. I even created the files on Excel and saved it to Dropbox but then it opens as read only. Weird.

idwds

At least that's the solution for today. Who knows after the next update.