Forum Discussion
Document in "Read-only" mode all the time
Hi, I tried to find a solution here but I was not successful. I have SharePoint library and when we want edit word document in desktop application, document is opened as a "Read-only". Do you have any idea what to do with it? I just found that there is problem with OneDrive and synchronization. We have own Content type on this library but I just try to edit document directly from library and it is not possible.
Mirek_N wrote:Hi, I tried to find a solution here but I was not successful. I have SharePoint library and when we want edit word document in desktop application, document is opened as a "Read-only". Do you have any idea what to do with it? I just found that there is problem with OneDrive and synchronization. We have own Content type on this library but I just try to edit document directly from library and it is not possible.
I got the same issue before. What I had figured out, it happened after I synced my SharePoint library with the onedrive client in my PC. To solve the problem, I un-sync the library by unticking it from the settings.
Hope this also works for others.
There used to be a bug that caused MS Word Desktop checkin to lock a file read-only if it was synced with OneDrive. The workaround was to either unsync the library from OneDrive, or only use checkin from SharePoint via your browser.
For me, this bug seems to have been fixed. I can use Word Desktop checkin on synced libraries without issue.
fakhrula Thank you. I have no idea how my Sharepoint locations had been added to my OneDrive Synchronisation. I have recently started using O365, and created some sites. Actually, I think I used Teams to create Channels. Maybe Microsoft integration (in this regard) has gone too far. It appear that the creation may have resulted in the addition of Sync, which I do not want (the whole point of Sharepoint for me, is that I don't have local copies). That said, what is the logic that allows me to have a local copy, that I can't update (only save as yet another copy)???? Surely it should update/overwrite regardless!
Anyway, as I say, I don't want a local copy, and so your suggestion works for me.
Onedrive Desktop App (right click cloud in systay) > Settings > Account tab > Stop sync (against the folder of interest)
ChrizK Replying to myself as the instructions are correct. Coincidently, I have been struggling again with Read Only. More of a coincidence, someone added to this thread which triggered my email. This is fortunate, as it made me read my own instructions. As I had a vague recollection of this problem, I thought I had stopped the OneDrive app during my investigation of the current problem, but Read Only persisted. This morning, I read the email and my own reply again. I checked OneDrive and found that there was a Sharepoint folder added to sync, but with zero bytes usage. Again, I have absolutely no idea how it was added, and I don't think it was even related to the folder I had the problem with (other than being the same Teams Channel, which means it shares the same Sharepoint Document folder).
Anyway, I removed this from OneDrive sync, and my document now allows me to turn on AutoSave once more (I still have major/minor checkout enabled).
I experienced this same problem (everything opened in read-only mode) and after I tried all the tips and tricks I could find, this is the only one that worked for me: I stopped syncing the document library.
I re-synced the document library, and now the status of the files is clearly "read only":
I have never seen this "read-only" status before and I just cannot figure out why these files are locked while other libraries are just fine.
The only difference between the files is that the locked files are from a communication site and the files that work okay are from team sites. Otherwise the settings are the same and I have full ownership to all of them.
Ugh. This drives me crazy.Hilla_MantyomenaSame over here. I kept having issues with read-only, unsynced from OneDrive, and now this is no longer an issue.
Hilla_Mantyomenaas far as I know, the read only mode in the file explorer is set, when the synced list is set to have mandatory file tags. The explorer can't deal with it.
Thanks for the solution, It reduces my headache.
- I could fix this problem by removing all credentials starting with "MicrosoftOffice2016" in Control Panel\User Accounts\Credential Manager.
I fixed this by going into the SharePoint library settings, clicking on versioning settings and under "Require check-out" select No.
Hi, I know this problem from a SharePoint 2016 on Prem environment.
Temporarily (at our environment) the problem can be solved by completely resetting the Internet Explorer settings (important when resetting - select the check box "Delete personal settings").Unfortunately I haven't found a reason for this yet. I can exclude OneDrive from my list because it affects users who have not even configured it. My previous assumption was that the whole thing happens when users jump back and forth between different WIFIs (it usually hits users who don't have a fixed workstation).
And there is something else. The SharePoint can be reached via https as well as via http (https is the default). If the problem occurs and the user opens the document with http instead of https, the user can edit the document again.
after looking at the network communication protocol I see only one difference between a client where is working and where is working not. at the client where the documents are only opened read-only/write protected I see that the _vti_bin/cellstorage.svc/CellStorageService is never called there. I think this is because a HTTP OPTIONS was send from word/excel to the lib before and HTTP 401 was returned.
I was getting the same issue, all documents and spreadsheets were opening read only with no option to change to edit.
Strangely what worked for me was: Close the OneDrive app, go to the SharePoint Online and open a document from there (but choose to open it in the app not the webpage), it should open fine.
Then close that file and open OneDrive again, all documents now opening fine!
hope this helps!
Arron
All-
I had this issue for all documents stored in SharePoint / Teams, opening in the desktop applications always opened files in read only. On other computers it was fine, and in the browser apps it was fine, just the desktop applications / thick clients. If you navigate to the Info menu from the File tab, the error message is something to the tune of "something went wrong, file has been opened in read only mode".
The issue occurred after a laptop refresh, and after working with our IT department we determined the issue was due to some sort of corruption with my user profile. re-building my user profile (via the registry) fixed it.
Just thought I'd pass along for anyone else experiencing the same symptoms as me.
Mirek_N I have had the same experience after a colleague did some experiments with Content Approval. In Libray Settings > Versioning Settings, I set the "Require content Approval for submitted items" to "No".
My colleague is working on some document Flow and I need to look into what causes the "Read only" issue.
Just wanted to mention I went through a bunch of the steps on this thread and none worked. I found that the user's Excel was signed in with two accounts: one was our admin 365 account and one was the user's. Our admin only has read permissions on the Sharepoint library, so I believe that's what was causing the issue. I opened Excel, clicked on the login on the top right and signed out our profile, then signed the user out and back in and the issue was resolved.
My manager had an issue with our team document folder - everything opened as read-only and saving meant uploading from a local copy. After scanning this thread, I found a lot of mentions about versioning and syncing with OneDrive - She was syncing our SharePoint documents with OneDrive and the versioning was set to Major and Minor. As soon as I updated versioning to Major only, she got a pop up about now being able to save. Issue disappeared. Thank you to all the responses. (PS: I do not require check out and had no required fields on the document library)
As you write the edit button is missing. I work with SharePoint for a long time and I know standard behavior. Anybody else does not work on document. Only I try to edit it. I do not know if there can be issue with OneDrive or Content types… but I have never had this kind of trouble with SharePoint library with co-authoring or even simply editing documents. It is really annoying and uncomfortable for end users when there is only one way to edit document that they have to download it, edit it and then upload back...
