Excel update 16.103.2 for Mac causing incorrect calculations

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Level 1

7 points

Excel update 16.103.2 for Mac causing incorrect calculations

I have not had a response from the Microsoft "Excel Community", I wonder if other Mac users (My MacMini runs Sequoia) have had a problem with the late-November update 16.103.2 of Excel on the Mac?

I opened a spreadsheet I have used on a daily basis for at least 8 years. A message advised that there was an update to Excel — I opted to “Restart” (i.e. install and activate the update). A comparison of two cells, totalling the same set of transactions showed them to be UNEQUAL (the comparison cell is part of my “sanity checks” on the spreadsheet), indicating either an incorrectly-keyed amount or a missed element, NEITHER of which applied. I increased the number of decimal places shown and found that two subtractions, input that day (Nov 24, 2025) after the update, had resulted in the result being INCREASED by “0.000000000001” (i.e. 11 zeros then 1). THE RESULT IS REPEATABLE. I have determined that the problem is in Excel rather than in the processor (I repeated the calculation in the “Numbers” spreadsheet and the calculations are correct — up to the maximum number of decimals permitted by the formatting command. I am attaching TWO screenshots — the first, from Excel also shows the formula used in Column 5 (where the errant decimal appears) the second is from "Numbers", using equivalent formulae (not "identical" as I have not yet been able to use "RC" format cell references in "Numbers").

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Excel for Mac

Mac mini, macOS 15.6

Posted on Nov 27, 2025 1:45 PM

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Answer 1

6x6

Level 6

19,245 points

Nov 27, 2025 5:33 PM in response to VelcroJP

Hi there,

I can't reproduce the "rounding" error in Excel 16.103.2 on macOS Sequoia 15.7.2:

You indicate using macOS Sequoia 15.6. Try upgrading macOS to see if it makes a difference.

What I find interesting in your screenshot is that the issue disappear 2 rows below only to reappear on the last row. This might indicate that your "upstream" data is carrying some rounding error (not visible by formatting). To validate this assumption, try to input "1044.42" in cell R[-1]C (thus replacing the formula) to see if all the remaining rows are properly calculated.

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 6

19,245 points

Nov 28, 2025 9:04 AM in response to VelcroJP

Thanks for additional info.

There seems to be a pattern, though, even if I don't know what it means. When there are only values in Column 3, the problem gets worse. When there are values in Column 4, the problem seems to auto-correct (to a degree). I'm still suspecting that your spreadsheet is so long that calculation errors have accumulated.

At this point, I would use the ROUND() function (with 2 decimals) either in the comparison you mentioned in your original question or directly in the calculation (Column 5). For the latter, only round the result, i.e. ROUND(R[-1]C+RC[-1]-RC[-2],2), as I assume the values in Columns 3 and 4 are user-entered.

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Answer 3

VelcroJP Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 28, 2025 7:44 AM in response to 6x6

Thank you "6x6", that is both interesting and perplexing!

You are correct in pointing out that the errant "0.000000000001" disappeared in the next row/calculation. What was not shown in my example was that the anomaly reappeared a couple of rows further down, then increased to "2" and again disappeared! In EVERY case, the values were entered using the keyboard into columns 3 & 4 ("C" and "D") so the tiny fraction could not have been as a result of keyboard input (or could it?).

Rather than corrupt my "master" sheet, I created a new Excel workbook and -- as you suggested -- keyboard-entered the "row-1" computed value (1044.42), together with the formula for column 5 and the actual values for columns 3 & 4; the error did not occur! HOWEVER, when I did a Paste-Special of the "Values" of the cell at column 5 on the preceding row, the error reappeared, even though that Paste-Special value showed zeros out to 18 decimal places! (I am pasting a screen-scrape of the new worksheet:

I am about to try your second suggestion -- updating Sequoia -- and will post the results later.

Thank you so much for your interest and your assistance -- it reminds me of the early days of the Mac Community (1987, with a Mac "enhanced" with an add-in board of 512K, a 10MB hard disk and Excel 1.04!!!) which rallied around any and every technical query.

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Answer 4

VelcroJP Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 28, 2025 8:43 AM in response to VelcroJP

Sequoia updated:

Excel as updated 23/24 November:

Calculations on "new" workbook exactly as in previous post. Calculations from main spreadsheet as follows:

Further keyboard entries of values with two (only) decimal places resulted in the anomaly being removed, reintroduced, increased and then removed!

I wonder if someone from Microsoft would care to take up the issue?

I have taken this as far as my now-limited technical skills can do so -- I will have to devise other sanity checks (perhaps using "ROUND"?) but for now I can no longer trust Excel (about which, in 1989, I made the facetious statement that "the computing problems of the world could be resolved using the Mac, Word and Excel", a statement I would no longer care to make!)

Thank you again, 6x6, for your persistence and help.

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Answer 5

VelcroJP Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 28, 2025 9:40 AM in response to 6x6

Thanks, 6x6. The three columns are, more or less, a ledger, so there should be a blue in only column 3 or column 4, never both, so the recurrence you mentioned is always likely!

I can (and probably will) "fudge" it by using "ROUND" (but to 10 decimals!), but that simply masks the error -- doesn't fix it.

It isn't one long, 8-years-old spreadsheet, just reused every two-month period (or more precisely, every 8 weeks!), so the maximum number of rows used would be just over 80 and, in this case only 46.

Unless I hear from someone in Microsoft, I am going to deem this "closed", but I'm afraid my trust in Excel is gone and I shall have to "slum down" to Numbers, whose functionality I find limited and "clunky" (I have to use it on the iPad and iPhone), just as I find the versions of Excel "clunky" ever since "they" converted it to Windows from Mac OS (proving how superior Mac was (and is!) to Windows.

Velcro JP signing off!

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