Configuring the Application/vnd.ms-excel MIME Type

In most cases your browser will handle Excel files properly without any special configuration. However, if it doesn’t work, just following the instructions below to configure the file type for Excel.

To create the Application/vnd.ms-excel MIME type for Netscape on the Mac:

  1. Launch Netscape.
  2. Select Edit -> Preferences -> Navigator -> Applications (from the Edit menu).
  3. Click on the New button.
  4. In the Description field, type Microsoft Excel.
  5. In the MIME Type field, type application/vnd.ms-excel.
  6. In the Suffixes field, type xls.
  7. Select the Application radio button and click Choose to browse to the location of the Excel application, highlight the file and click Open.
  8. Select XLS8 from the File type popup menu in the File Info section.
  9. Click OK.

To create the Application/vnd.ms-excel MIME type for Internet Explorer on the Mac:

  1. Select Preferences from the Explorer file menu.
  2. Click on the File Helpers bullet in the Receiving Files section.
  3. Select XLS8 from the File type popup menu in the File Info section.
  4. Click on the Add button.
  5. Type Microsoft Excel Worksheet in the Description field.
  6. Type .xl in the Extension field.
  7. Type application/vnd.ms-excel in the MIME type field.
  8. Click on Browse to go to the location of the Excel application, highlight the file and click Open.
  9. Type XLS in the File type field.
  10. Check the Use for incoming and Use for outgoing checkboxes.
  11. Click OK.

To create the Application/vnd.ms-excel MIME type for Netscape on the PC:

  1. Launch Netscape.
  2. Select Edit -> Preferences -> Navigator -> Applications (from the Edit menu).
  3. Click on the New button.
  4. Type Microsoft Excel in the Description field.
  5. Type xls in the File extension field.
  6. Type application/vnd-ms-excel in the MIME Type field.
  7. Click on Browse to choose the Excel.exe executable file.
  8. Click OK.

To create the Excel MIME type for Internet Explorer on the PC:

  1. Select Start menu -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Folder Options.
  2. Click on the File Types tab.
  3. Click on the New button.
  4. Type xls in the File Extension field.
  5. Click on the Advanced button, select Microsoft Excel Application from the Associated File Type popup menu and click OK.