This is what worked for me If you want to run it without a VM: I suggest getting a licence to crossover. Then you can download the office 2016 Iso here https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/technology-science/microsoft/8-office-2016-direct-download-links and buy a cheap licence online. Mount the Iso onto your computer then in crossover search office 2016 and then as the installer select the exe from the mounted Iso. This way you get native integration so when you open an excel file from Linux it will just open excel. Here is an older video explaining the method https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WB8uqE5_8s0&pp=ygUhT2ZmaWNlIDIwMTYgTGludXggc2V0dXAgY3Jvc3NvdmVy

You can try Winboat.

It uses docker or podman to create a windows container and run windows programs, that Wine or Proton can't run. The experience may not be snappy, as there is no GPU passthrough support yet, but it sure is seamless. I once tried Photoshop and it ran great.

Had to look into this recently for similar reasons. My conclusion was that once you have macros involved, you can't use anything but an actual copy of Excel. I'll be spinning up a qemu VM with Windows to support Excel and the full version of Visual Studio when I get that far.

So it’s not excel, it’s share point you can’t live without.

There’s a software called Winboat which integrates Windows apps natively in your Linux system and under the hood it’s spin up a virtual machine for it. You can try that for Excel

So, you are caught by MS... Either accept it, or do what is right.

There is no Excel alternative. It sucks, bit its the reality. I run a VM specifically for a couple windows apps and 90% of that is excel.

I use version 2019 and manipulated the installer to only install excel and none of the other office suite apps.

You can also do the same in a docker container instead of VM (winboat) if that's more your jam.

If you want more info on any of that I'd be glad to give you more details.

I tried libreoffice too but you have to change a few settings so it'll be compatible with ms office but it still isn't perfect, btw Onlyofficr worked great for me, I hope it works for you too.

I think using a VM is a good choice. You get all the compatibility benefits while isolating it from your hardware.

There is one special program for some special hardware that I need for work, and I just run said program in a Windows VM. Even better, I can run the program without internet. So it's completely safe!

Separate your personal and your work computer. You don't want to be in a situation where you have to explain a software issue caused by your decision of not running standard software. Put Windows and all work related software on a separate work laptop and use remote desktop from your Linux PC to do your job.

For work, I just use windows. Not my machine not my problem.

WPS Office version of Excel is a surprisingly good alternative.

To use Excel with macros, I don't even think the web version will cut it. Your only option is to use something like winboat to use excel inside a windows docker container as far as I know.

Using something like Winboat on top of a linux distro installation might be be the best option for you, since Winboat allows you to virtualize windows on a per-application basis.

(This is not Wine, it's essentially a barebones VM, but I don't think you need GPU acceleration for excel lol)

TIL about winboat thanks to this thread

Infuriaring isnt it!

We just moved to m365 and it sucks, excel is less user friendly than sheets and I hate both.

I get it is needed for its power usage but i detest it. I cannot fathom how a suite of software as bad as m365 is just out there being used.

Calendar sucks. Outlook sucks. Excel sucks. Word sucks. Powerpoint is fine. Sharepoint is woeful. How many other half apps are connected? Loops, etc.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah

Option 1) Dual Booting Option 2) Just run Excel with WINE/Proton Option 3) Proton Sheets Option 4) Google Sheets (Also web and libre office as you mention)

I avoid O365 as much as possible, but when I need to, I do occasionally use it with Crossover and it seems to work. Activation was a little bit janky, but did work.

Crossover is a paid version of WINE, and the other apps I've seen mentioned run Windows in a VM and forward the apps through RDP. There are advantages to both approaches, but I prefer the efficiency of Crossover.

You could use something like WinBoat to make installing and using a virtual machine for Windows a lot easier. It also makes Windows apps feel almost like they are native to your Linux desktop, which is nice.

Alternatively, you could try running Excel in wine using Bottles, but I'm not sure how well that'll go since Excel is kind of a monster of an application.