Forum Discussion
How to get rid of ".xlsx is now available for editing"
How do I get rid of the pop-up message "myFile.xlsx is now available for editing. Choose read-write to open it for editing." that occasionally appears as I open an excel file.
I do automation work for my job and my current project involves me running a bot that opens and closes the same excel file about 50+ times over the span of several hours while making edits to the excel file. The problem that I am having is that the bot runs inevitable crashes because of the unexpected pop-up window that I mentioned above. The bot will run for about 2-3hours, opening, closing, and manipulating this excel file about 30-40 times before this pop-up appears (at which point, my script does not know how to handle the pop-up and the bot fails).
Does anyone know what causes this pop-up to appear and/or how to prevent it from opening in the future? Note that the bot runs on a remote server and that is where the excel file is being opened/closed from. See below for an image of the pop-up.
Thank you
I was able to resolve the issue by adding a 2 minute delay before each time that the xlsx file is opened.
2 Replies
I was able to resolve the issue by adding a 2 minute delay before each time that the xlsx file is opened.
Try this:
- Check for Multiple Instances: Ensure that the Excel file is not being opened by another instance of Excel or another user. This can cause the file to be locked and trigger the pop-up.
- Use Shared Workbooks: If multiple users or processes need to access the file simultaneously, consider using Excel's shared workbook feature. This allows multiple users to make changes to the workbook at the same time.
- Disable Alerts in VBA: If you're using VBA for automation, you can disable alerts to prevent pop-ups from interrupting your script. Add the following line at the beginning of your VBA code:Application.DisplayAlerts = FalseRemember to re-enable alerts at the end of your script:Application.DisplayAlerts = True
- Check File Permissions: Ensure that the file permissions on the remote server allow your bot to access and modify the file without restrictions.
- Use a Different File Format: Sometimes, using a different file format like .xlsb (Excel Binary Workbook) can help reduce the occurrence of such pop-ups.
- Automate Pop-up Handling: If the pop-up still appears, you might need to add a step in your automation script to handle the pop-up. This can be done using tools like AutoHotkey or Power Automate to detect and close the pop-up automatically.
