If you’re curious about the version of Excel you’re using and don’t know how to go about it, you’ve come to the right place. It could be as simple as selecting the Help Menu and clicking About Microsoft Office Excel, but then again, maybe not. The five options below will help you sort things out.
Excel for Windows
If you’re using a Windows computer, chances are you’re using one of the three most recent versions of Excel.
Excel 2003
Select the Help menu, then click About Microsoft Office Excel.
This also works with earlier versions of Excel (2002 and 2000).
Excel 2007
Select the Office button and click the Excel Options button, then select Resources from the left-hand pane and click the About button.
Excel 2010
Click the File tab on the Ribbon, then select Help from the left-hand pane. The right-hand pane has the Version information.
Excel for Mac
If you’re using a Mac the two most recent Excel versions, 2008 and 2011, just select the Excel menu, then click About Excel.
Fantastic explenation. I don;t know why other websites make it so difficult to follow the explenations.
As is so often the case with Microsoft the explanation of the program does not jibe with how the program actually functions. When I go to “About Excel” I am not told whether or not I’m using “Excel 2008 for Mac” or “Excel 2011 for Mac.” Instead I’m told I’m using “Excel X for Mac.” So, what actually appears in the program is totally different from what appears in the above explainations. Why is it so difficult for programmers and those discussing programming to use consistent vocabulary so that users are not left lost and guessing. It’s really rather lazy. And for users it’s very annoying.
I would submit that programmers operate in a parallel universe that sometimes intersects with the reality that us users inhabit. That being said, when I choose Excel > About Excel I get a pop-up window that shows an icon at the top: Microsoft Excel: mac 2011, and then the first text line is: Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011.
I’m using OS X Lion on my Mac, so maybe that makes a difference in what I’m seeing verses what you are experiencing. I removed Excel 2008 so I can’t attest to how that About information is displayed.