office files

[sjleworthy]

Hi guys

For the last couple of years i've done my office work (excel files mostly) using Office2HD. but since they changed their name to QuickEdit over the last month or so my files have been becoming unreliable and dont always load/save any more.

I then tried the new MS Office suite until i quickly discovered i needed to spend a £80 per year sub to use it. No way!

Then i thought of using Apple's Numbers app instead. So, quick nube Q........

how do i get an xls (excel file) from either my pc or buried in my ipad to open in Numbers. it isnt too clear.

 

[giradman]

Hi Steve - Numbers should automatically import and open an Excel file (when saved the extension .numbers will be used) - try to email an Excel file to yourself; on the iPad the Mail app should allow you to open the file in Numbers (just did an example from the web and worked fine on my iDevice; just donated my old PC and no longer have .xls files) - now the iOS version of Numbers will not support all of the features of a Windows-based Excel program, so be warned (but I assume you already knew those limitations on the iPad).

Also, I just purchased a new book (Amazon link HERE) from the Apple store (so both my wife & I could share it on our iPads & iMac) - covers both the OS X & iOS versions (and the newest iWork suite) - I've only gone through the OS X Numbers sections - quite good and very detailed! Dave

 

[sjleworthy]

Cheers mate, yes, the email option worked dandy!

 

[twerppoet]

DropBox is also a good way to get Office documents into iWorks. Place the file in DropBox from your PC or using the web site; then open the DropBox app on the iPad, select the file, and use the Open In app option.

Box is also a great cloud storage service with a free basic user option. The benefit of Box is that it supports WebDAV. That means (with a little fiddling) you can copy and save files directly to Box from within the iWorks apps.

In general, I use DropBox if I want to quickly copy a file to or from the iPad, or one-time share that file. I use Box when I want longer term storage of the file (maybe as a backup), or to share the file with others on a continuing basis. Its more complete sharing and file/version management features are useful in those instances.

 

[Alvil]

Thats quite nice actually that email option worked for you. BTW there are other options also through which you can quickly import your excel and docx files and edit them. I am using files finder edition for the same functionality on my ipad. it worked quite well for me as a file explorer.

 

[sjleworthy]

Thanks guys