Forum Discussion
Turn Off Read Only
Hey guys,
Hoping someone can help out with this, there are 5 of us here in the office all using our boss' Microsoft office licence. Mainly using excel and unable to open Excel files at the same time without getting 'Read-only' access while opening. Is there anyway this can be removed so we can all save the same file?
- Hello,
Kindly follow the steps below
1. Select No when prompted to open the Excel worksheet as read-only.
2. Choose File, followed by Save As and Browse.
3. Click Tools at the bottom of the Save As menu and choose General Options.
4. Under General, find the Read-only Recommended check box and uncheck it.
5. Click OKAbiola1 I am having the same issue with one Excel file and tried to follow the instructions as noted here. However, I am not seeing Tools under "Save As". I am using Excel 2019 on a Windows 11 laptop if that matters. Thanks!
Press F12 to display the Save As dialog.
The Tools drop-down should be to the left of the Save button:
- Alternatively
1. Close the Excel wookbook
2. Right click on that specific Workbook
3. Select Properties
4. Uncheck Read only
5. Click OKAbiola1 whenever I right click I never get Properties so please give other suggestions on how to turn off Read Only, thanks, Susan
- Hi there, thanks very much for that! I should have mentioned that files are on a local shared network and it happens with all of them. We can use the Save-As for a workaround but this happens when 2 files are opened at the same time. I will try and get a screenshot if it helps Thanks!
Hi shaneoc14
You can only co-author files if they are saved to OneDrive or SharePoint.
There is an old option to "ShareWorkbooks" but it was always buggy and not really recommended.
Afraid here is the bug not in functionality, but in scenario of use. Actually same license on 5 different PC:s means same user simultaneously works with same shared file on different clients. Excel sharing is not designed for such scenario. I guess it keeps temporary files under users ID:s and syncs them on each Save. If all ID:s are the same Excel has no idea how to sync and ask to close extra copy first.
Above is just my guess, didn't test that.
And yes, co-authoring has no such limitation, as well as many others.
- I have the solution, I opened Excel in safe mode and searched for the issue and I found out that the problem is due to an Add-in, the Excel seemed not to find the add-in location and the security check prevent any modifications to the file as it might be a virus.
Anyway, the solution that I'm sure it will work 100% with you is:
1- Open any excel file
2- Open developer menu
3- Click on Add-ins
4- Uncheck all the add-ins
5- If any of the add-ins is failing and causing the issue it will give you an error message and it will remove it
6- Close and re-open excel
7- The file now should be opened normally
Open the add-ins you use again (preferably one by one) and check after opening each one, if the problem persists, then the last one you opened is also making a problem.- Hi, where is the Developer Menu? I can't find it anywhere, thanks, Susan
The Developer tab of the ribbon is available in the desktop version of Excel for Windows and MacOS.
Windows:
- Select File > Options.
- Select Customize Ribbon.
- Tick the check box Developer in the list of Main Tabs on the right.
- Click OK.
MacOS:
- Select Preferences... from the Excel menu at the top.
- Select View.
- Under In Ribbon, Show, tick the check box Developer.
- Close the dialog.
I have the same problem and don't have any add-ins on the file
bnm411 I am suddenly having the same problem. MS converted all files to read-only. I know how to save as with new filename. It won't let me. Every time I tell it to, it says that file already exists! Which it does not! This is clearly an MS problem...I supposed related to its new reliance on AI. Argghhhh.
- Same issue. None of the solutions above work. (Domain account)
-Drive is in trusted networks in domain policies
-User has access (read and execute, and modify)
-Read-only attributes are off when looking at file properties
-Files are locked by another account (discovered by trying to move the file because excel AND server manager (computer managment: files and folders) doesn't even tell you that...)
-This also seems to bug something else (or a bug causing this causes the issue on excel): i usually use RPC to shutdown/restart off-site computers but for some unknown reason the computer that has the handle on the files cannot be restarted remotely.
If anyone finds a solution for this please advise.
