Getting 'Number Shapes' error when trying to open VSDX file in Online / Web Visio version?

Question

Hi, we are losing our desktop Visio in a few days, which I just found out about, and are being told to use the Online / Web Version going forward. However, when I try to edit one of my VSDX files (that was created in the desktop app) in the Web App, I'm getting an error due to 'The file contains Visio Desktop solutions Number Shapes' even though my files are not using that function, in fact, I've never used that function. When I click on the link in the error message it just brings me to the standard 'what's supported / what's not' page which doesn't provide any details on how to fix this specific issue. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

I am not using the Number Shapes function, so not sure why I'm getting that error. I spent a few hours messing around with different files on Sat and couldn't figure it out. Some of my files are opening ok, some are not. I've tried taking out background sheets, taking out headers / footers (they don't seem to carry over to online version anyways), deleting shapes in the Document Stencil to decrease file size, removing jpgs, removing off-page refs (I don't use the hyperlink option with these though), removing custom colors, etc. But, it appears the error isn't stemming from the actual shapes on my pages, but some kind of file setting? It seems I can't upload an actual Visio file for you to take a look. For now, I'm instructing people to copy / paste their flows into a new Visio chart, which seems to work, but obviously isn't an ideal option.

Answer 2

After more research, I think I've found the reason why we're getting this error, even though we're NOT using the Number Shapes function. I likely just did a save-as of my old .vsd flows into the .vsdx version when that new version was available years ago. I saw on one page that files that were originally .vsd files + converted to .vsdx files cannot be edited in the online Visio version. Good to know, I guess. Doesn't change the fact that a lot of us will be unable to edit our flows going forward unless we manually copy / paste each page of our flows into a new blank .vsdx file. Would've been nice if the error stated this as the reason vs. the 'Number Shapes' issue that actually isn't the root cause.