Knowledge Base

XL98: "Cannot Convert" Error Message Saving File in Earlier Format

Article ID: 181284

Article Last Modified on 9/11/2002

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

This article was previously published under Q181284

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, when you save a workbook in an earlier version format, for example, in any of the following formats

Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet
Microsoft Excel 3.0 Worksheet
Microsoft Excel 2.2 Worksheet

you may receive multiple error messages that are similar to the following:

A formula in a cell (Cell:B7) could not be converted because it contains a function that is not available in the file format to which you are saving. If you continue the save, the formula and result will be saved, but the function itself will be converted to an error value.

-and-

Microsoft Excel cannot convert some of the cells. The total number of errors found is 3.

-and-

This workbook contains features that are not supported by the file format that you selected. To avoid the possible loss of formatting or information, be sure to save a copy in the most recent Microsoft Excel Workbook format.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if either of the following conditions is true:

The workbook or worksheet you are saving contains formulas that use functions that do not exist in the earlier version of Microsoft Excel. -or-

Functions in your formulas refer to arguments that do not exist in the earlier version of Microsoft Excel.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.

MORE INFORMATION

If the workbook or worksheet contains functions or arguments that are not supported in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, you receive the error messages in this article when you save a file in a file format for an earlier version of Microsoft Excel.

If you save the file in the format for an earlier version, first save a copy of the workbook in the Microsoft Excel Workbook format (for Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition version). This step ensures that you do not permanently lose any of your formulas or formatting.

The worksheet functions that are available in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition are NOT available in the versions of Microsoft Excel that are listed in the following table.

   Excel 98
   Function       7.0   5.0   4.0
   ------------------------------

   AMORDEGRC                   x
   AMORLINC                    x
   AVERAGEA        x     x     x
   CONCATENATE                 x
   COUNTBLANK                  x
   COUNTIF                     x
   GETPIVOTDATA    x     x     x
   HYPERLINK       x     x     x
   MAXA            x     x     x
   MINA            x     x     x
   POWER                       x
   ROMAN                       x
   ROUNDDOWN                   x
   ROUNDUP                     x
   SQLREQUEST                  x
   STDEVA          x     x     x
   STDEVPA         x     x     x
   SUBTOTAL                    x
   SUMIF                       x
   VARA            x     x     x
   VARPA           x     x     x

NOTE: An "x" means the function is not available in the version of Excel.

Note that Microsoft Excel 7.0 is available only for Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT. There is no Macintosh version of Microsoft Excel 7.0. In addition, there are other functions, such as VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, DAYS360, and WEEKDAY, that accept more arguments in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition than they do in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.

The "Cannot Convert" Error Message

The "Microsoft Excel cannot convert some of the cells" error message reports a varying number of errors. This number depends on the file format in which you save the workbook or worksheet. This behavior occurs for the following reasons:

Functions and arguments that are supported in one earlier version of Microsoft Excel (for example, version 5.0) may not be supported in another earlier version of Microsoft Excel (for example, version 4.0).
Depending on how you enter formulas in your worksheets, some cells that contain unsupported functions or arguments may not be reported. This behavior occurs if any of the cells that contain the formulas are using "shared" formulas. If cells contain shared formulas, the number reported by the error message may be smaller than you expect.

The difference in the number of reported cells is not cause for concern; however, you should be aware of the difference. Make sure you save a copy of the workbook in the Microsoft Excel Workbook format to avoid losing formulas or formatting.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

136733 XL: "Cannot Write Record" Error Saving File to Earlier Format

Additional query words: XL98

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb KB181284

Microsoft KB Archive/181284

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