only save as option is .xlam (Excel Add On)

[mygenericname123]

I am downloading data from Reference USA and using it for my company. I am exporting the data off the website into sheets. I'm given four format options: comma delimited, excel, excel 2007/2010, tab unlimited

So what I do is download the data, import into a sheet, do a bunch of work and then save. I kept losing work (color coding and notes) when saving under the wrong formats so I read online saving to xls is the way to go. No problem. I did save as and saved into an XLS format. When I reopened the document, all my work was there.

However, now all my saving options have disappeared for ALL excel sheets. Put another way, it doesn't matter if I import data off the internet, or create a new sheet on my own... my ONLY save as option is excel add on (.xlam) . The file itself is a .xls but it will not allow me to save as .xls (or for that matter, save it as anything but .xlam. I had many options before this issue popped up)

What is the deal? Is .xls the best way to save worksheets in order to not lose work? It seems as though all other excel formats were giving me the warning message that I may lose formatting and I know for sure I was losing work using them too.

But now, I only have one save as option, that's it. So I essentially have a sheet that I've done a bunch of work on and I can't save it without risk of losing work.

I'm using Excel for a Mac version 16.25 (365 subscription)

 

[ismii]

What format is the data in when you download it?
Before doing any data manipulation, could you save it as an xlsx first? Then any manipulations you do should follow through properly.

If the only option is an xlam, it sounds like maybe you have some code that might run in the file? If you open up the VBA Editor (How to: https://spreadsheeto.com/vba-editor/) is there any code in there or are all the modules/ sheets empty?

The workbook might have the tag for "IsAddin = True", then if you change that to "False", you should be able to save as a xslm (macro-enabled workbook) at the least.