Why can't I see a powerpivot spreadsheet in regular excel

Question

i received an excel workbook and opened it but could not see it unless I went into PowerPivot. Why? It is an XLSX file. I should be able to see it in regular excel.

Answer 1

PowerPivot data is saved within the XSLX file, but not in a regular spreadsheet. PowerPivot uses a different format for its data that is optimized for fast analysis of large data sets, but not for standard Excel operations like putting a formula somewhere into a cell etc. which you can do in normal Excel sheets.

Hence, these being different types of objects, you cannot see them at the same place when opening the Excel file.

Answer 2

If you have MS-Office 2003 or earlier goto the blow link and download and install the MS-Compatibility pack.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en