Office 365 / Excel 2011 for Mac I also have VMWare Fusion 7 w/ Windows 8.1. I try to open it on my Mac, I get the error 'The file is locked for editing' and am. There was a file in the directory of my spreadsheet that had the. If you are logged in on the server where the locked Excel file resides, choose “Local computer“. If you are logged in at a different computer, select “Another computer“, then type or Browse to the server where the Excel file resides. In the view section, select “Open Files“. Select “OK“ Expand the list of “Open Files“.
Location Excel spreadsheets may be Read Only due to their location. If the spreadsheet is on a network folder and you do not have appropriate network permissions to make make changes in the folder, the spreadsheet is Read Only.
A spreadsheet on a CD-ROM, DVD or locked USB stick is Read Only. Spreadsheets sent as email attachments and previewed within the email program are also Read Only.
In all of these cases, moving or saving the spreadsheet to a folder where you have full permissions will allow you to make changes. Another User Some Excel spreadsheets, like Word documents, can only be edited by one user at a time. If you open a spreadsheet that another user already has open, there is a message advising that the spreadsheet is in use and providing options for viewing the spreadsheet. If you select the 'Notify' option, once the other user has closed the spreadsheet, you will get a message giving the option to leave Read Only mode. As of Excel 2010, a 'Share Workbook' feature is available. See Resources for instructions and limitations of this feature.
Spreadsheet Settings Excel spreadsheets and workbooks can be protected to prevent changes. Depending on the level of protection, they may be partly or completely Read Only. You can select 'Unprotect' under the review tab, but if the person who enabled protection set a password, you will need that password to remove the protection. The spreadsheet can also be set to read only during 'Save As,' by selecting 'Tools' in the save dialog box, then 'General Options.'
A password may also be added at this step.