Forum Discussion
Sharing Excel file
Good evening,
I have this need: I have created an excel file on my pc (locally) and I would like to share it with some colleagues, so that they can all modify it at the same time; in this regard, I selected the "share" option and sent the link to access the file. So far so good because everyone can access the same file and modify it as required. However, if I close the file locally on my pc, the connection with the shared file is lost and when I reopen it and share it again, another copy of the same file is created in the cloud, creating a lot of inconvenience. Is it possible to keep the link between my local file and the shared file so that even if I open and close it, the connection is not lost?
Thanks so much
S.
Hi SimPet87
yes, you summarized it correctly.
It seems, that the OneDrive app is currently not running on your computer. So first thing would be, to start the OneDrive app. As it seems that you can see already a OneDrive folder in the Windows explorer, you could do a right-click on the folder and adjust the settings, so OneDrive gets started automatically and the syncronization is activated.
After that, I cross fingers, you should be fine 😉
10 Replies
Hi SimPet87
if you store the file on local folder (outside of OneDrive) and click on the Share-button, only a copy of the file gets loaded to the cloud. And this leads to the issues that you are having now.
Instead, you need to store the file first on OneDrive (which could be also on a local folder that gets synced to the cloud) and only then share it. This way, everybody (including yourself) is working with the same file, and not just on a copy.
- I would like to thank you from my heart for your availability and courtesy; I'm not very expert on this: what do you mean by "store the file first on OneDrive", maybe you mean that once created locally on my pc I can directly drag it to the folder on OneDrive?
The other option you suggested was to store the file in a local folder and then connect it to the cloud, could you tell me how I can do it?
Thanks again really
S.Hi SimPet87
sorry for my late reply. I guess that you are using OneDrive, otherwise it would not possible to share a file. So my assumption was, that you have something like this on your computer:
If my assumption is right, then you should store your Excel file somewhere within this OneDrive-folder and share it from that location.
And then you should also work with the file from this OneDrive folder that you have choosen. This way, it is the same file that the other user works with.
If you, for example, copy the file from a folder on the C: drive to OneDrive folder, but then continue to work with the file on the C: drive, the other user always just gets a copy of the original file. And you face the problems that you described.
I hope, it's a bit clearer now. Otherwise, just let me know.
Kind regards,
Martin
