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Fix Excel for Mac Not Following macOS Regional Date and Number Settings
Question details
Users report that Excel for Mac uses United States formats for dates, decimals, currencies, and CSV separators, completely ignoring the configured macOS regional settings.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel for Mac
- Device & OS
- macOS
- Scenario
- Opening, editing, or exporting spreadsheets that rely on local non-US date and number formatting conventions.
- Observed behavior
- Excel for Mac incorrectly displays data in US formatting and does not honor the specific regional settings configured in macOS System Settings.
Verify that you are running the latest version of macOS and that Microsoft Office is fully updated through Microsoft AutoUpdate, as Apple and Microsoft periodically release patches for regional sync issues.
Enable System Separators in Excel Preferences
Force Excel to use the decimal and thousands separators defined by your macOS system settings.
By default, Excel might override your Mac's regional settings with its own defaults. Telling the application to explicitly use the system's separators can resolve number and currency formatting issues.
Launch Excel on your Mac, click on 'Excel' in the top Apple menu bar, and select 'Preferences'.
In the Preferences window, locate the Authoring section and click on 'Edit'.
Find the option labeled 'Use system separators' and ensure the checkbox next to it is selected.
Completely quit Excel (Command + Q) and reopen it for the changes to take effect.
Change the Mac Primary Language
Switching your macOS primary language to one that natively matches your desired regional formats can force Excel to adopt those settings.
Try WPS Office for Better Regional Formatting Reliability
When Microsoft Excel for Mac fails to properly sync with your macOS regional settings, dealing with broken dates and CSV formatting can be frustrating. WPS Office offers a highly compatible, free alternative that respects your local system configurations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the specific region settings located in Excel for Mac?
Unlike the Windows version, Excel for Mac does not have extensive region-specific settings built into the app. It relies almost entirely on the macOS system settings found in System Settings > General > Language & Region. You can only toggle 'Use system separators' inside Excel's Edit preferences.
Why does my CSV file use the wrong separator in Excel for Mac?
If Excel is defaulting to US regional settings, it will expect a comma (,) as a list separator instead of a semicolon (;), which is common in European regions. Ensuring 'Use system separators' is checked in Excel Preferences or importing the CSV via the 'Text to Columns' tool can bypass this.
Will reinstalling Microsoft Office fix the regional formatting issue?
Generally, reinstalling will not resolve this because it is a known behavior or bug between certain versions of Office and macOS. Keeping both your macOS software and Microsoft Office updated is the most reliable way to receive bug fixes for this issue.
Is it possible to use English language menus but European date formats in Excel for Mac?
This can be tricky due to how Excel reads Mac settings. While you can set macOS Language to English (US) and Region to a European country, Excel sometimes ignores the Region toggle. Switching your primary language to English (UK) is a common workaround to maintain English menus while getting non-US date formats.
