Forum Discussion
Sheet View Issues with Excel Web Browser
Hi, I have created a Excel document for my department to use, I tried Excel App but due to the size of the Spreadsheet it kept freezing, as a result I switched it to use Excel through Web Browser. The sheet no longer freezes which is good. I do have another issue though.....I wanted multiple users to be able to access, edit the sheet at the same time so I did some research and Sheet View seemed to be the way forward. I created a Sheet view for each employee to use so when you go to View, Sheet View and click on the relevant person their work is updated, saved etc and this shouldn't affect others view. This is working in terms of people editing.
The main issue now though is that despite following advice sometimes when someone changes a filter on their own sheet view it seems to change others view. My understanding was you can hide, filter etc within your own Sheet view but this doesn't seem to be the case.......PLEASE HELP!!!!
My excel and computer Skills aren't excellent to please any simple advise would be great.
4 Replies
Hi climo2k,
You’re right that Sheet Views in Excel for the Web are designed so each person can filter or sort without affecting others. If filters are still changing for everyone, it usually means someone is applying them in Normal View instead of their own Sheet View. A few tips that should help:
- Always enter your Sheet View first: Go to View → Sheet View → select your view. At the top you should see a black bar that says “You’re in a Sheet View”. If you don’t see that, you’re in Normal View and any filters will affect everyone.
- Save the view: After creating a Sheet View, make sure it’s saved. Otherwise Excel may drop back to Normal View.
- Temporary views: If someone just wants to do a quick filter, Excel will often prompt them to use a temporary Sheet View. They should accept that prompt so their changes don’t spill over.
- Name views clearly: Give each view a clear name (e.g. “John’s View”, “Finance Filters”) so people know which one to pick.
- Train the team: Remind everyone to check the black bar before filtering or sorting. That one step prevents most of the issues you’re seeing.
If the workbook is very large and you still run into problems, you might consider breaking it into smaller linked files or using tools like Power BI or SharePoint Lists, which handle multi‑user filtering more smoothly.
Sheet Views in Excel Online are designed to let each person filter/sort without affecting others, but if someone applies filters outside of their saved Sheet View (or accidentally uses the “Temporary View”), those changes can spill over to everyone. The fix is to make sure each person explicitly enters their own named Sheet View before filtering, and to avoid using the default or temporary view.
You may consider:
1. Always switch to your own Sheet View first:
o Go to View > Sheet View.
o Select your named view before applying filters or sorts.
2. Avoid using the default view:
o If you see “Temporary View” at the top, click Keep View and save it under your name.
o This ensures changes stay private.
3. Lock down the process:
o Train your team to never filter in the default view.
o Encourage them to double-check the Sheet View indicator before making changes.
4. Clean up old views:
o If multiple temporary views exist, delete them and recreate clear, named views for each person.Hi, thanks for your reply.
All users are going into their own Sheet View - I have checked this.
There are no Temporary views - I check this throughout the day and 1st thing in the morning when I am updating the data.
No filters are left applied once I have added the data in the morning before other users log on and go on to their own sheet view.
Still changes are happening, not all the time but sporadically which is why I am so stumped.
Every time a member of staff says something has changed, I view the changes and it says someone has 'Sorted' but when I have asked they haven't sorted anything. Even if they have 'Sorted' or 'Filtered' it should affect others views as they are all in their own sheets. I have even Video chatted people and changed certain filters within separate views but it doesn't change the opposite persons data which is what it should be doing.
It's driving us all crazy
I know its a new feature and maybe a few bugs with it but I have followed instructions to the letter of how to create, design and use the Workbook.
Anyone have any other ideas what the issue maybe?
Same issue here, except on the Windows 11 Desktop app.
My team of 10+ is using the same document for data entry and tracking, but the sheet views do not seem to respect their boundaries.
