Are you unable to edit your Excel workbook due to an error message “The document is locked for editing by another user”? Show
If you also want to solve this Excel file locked by another user how to unlock mystery then you are on the right page. As today through this post, I am gonna share some easy fixes to resolve this Excel file is locked for editing by another user error. Before that let’s find out why “The document is locked for editing by another user” error is appearing while trying to edit the Excel spreadsheet. How Word And Excel Files Become Non-Editable?This error is not limited to the Excel file, MS Word users are also facing File is locked for editing by another user error message. There are lots of causes that can trigger this type of error and prevent the user from editing Excel or word file. If you haven’t quit the Excel file properly then the Excel application becomes unable to delete the owner file and hence when the user tries to open/edit the Excel file then they get “The document is locked for editing by another user” error message. If the Excel file a Word file saved on the server then it is possible that the same file is getting used by another person at the same time. Microsoft’s office creates a temporary ownership file for their Excel and Word, this file is present in the location of the document, having “~$” followed by the name of the file. For Example: The filename of “myfile.doc” will have an ownership file name “~$myfile.doc”, both the files are created on newmisserver\public. The file also contains the name of the owner who is currently editing the document. You can see the file on newmisserver\public from a computer, but on a Mac, you can’t see this file. To extract data from corrupt Excel file, we recommend this tool: This software will prevent Excel workbook data such as BI data, financial reports & other analytical information from corruption and data loss. With this software you can rebuild corrupt Excel files and restore every single visual representation & dataset to its original, intact state in 3 easy steps:
There are various causes that can trigger this type of Excel File Locked For Editing issues. Some of the common reasons for “The document is locked for editing by another user” error are as follows:
Sometimes you may also get the error message saying that:
Screenshot of the error: How To Fix Microsoft Excel File Locked For Editing?In order to solve Excel file in use issue, we will disconnect the user from the file, and allow another user to get the complete accessibility. So follow all the below-given solutions. Method 1# Disconnect User From The Opened Excel File And Unlock It1: First you have to note down the path to the file, and the file name. 2: Open the run dialogue box, press the Windows Key + R from your keyboard to open up the Run dialog box. 3: In the run dialogue box, type “mmc” and then hit the Enter key to open up the “Microsoft Management Console“. 4: Choose the “File” > “Add/Remove Snap-in“. 5: From the list of “Available snap-ins”, choose the “Shared Folders” and then choose “Add” to add it to the “Selected snap-ins” list. 6: Another box will appear asking you to “Select the computer you want the snap-in to manage“. In case you are logged in on the server where the contaminated Excel file is present, then select “Local computer”. But if you are using a different system, then select the “Another computer”, then type the server where the Excel file stored. 7: Now, in the view section, choose the “Open Files“. 8: Choose the “OK“ 9: Click on the “Open Files” to expand it. 10: You can sort the entire list according to your need and then search the file in the list. After it, right-click the file and, select “Close Open File” Method 2# Quit All The Instances Of ExcelFollow the below-mentioned steps to terminate your PC from all the opened instances of Excel. This ultimately works in resolving Excel file in use error.
Method 3# Same File Is Editing By Another UserIf any other user is also working on the same excel file at the same time then you have the two options to perform. The first one is, either you can wait till that person releases the file. And the second one is to make a copy of your Excel file and make all the changes in this copied document. Or you can also switch to such an app that allows multiple authors to work on the file concurrently. Note: If you are working on the same Excel file with multiple users, then ensure that all the users must be using the same version of Excel which has well support for co-authoring. Method 4# Office App Already Executing In BackgroundIf you are very much sure that your excel file is not shared on the network nor it is been edited by any other user. In that case, chances are high that instances of the Office app along with the opened file are already executing in the background. Method 5# Check Your Excel Version Support Co-Authoring Or NotTo work on the Excel file which is used by multiple users at the same time, make sure all the users are using Excel version which supports co-authoring. If your excel version support co-authoring than more than one person can easily open and work on the file at the same time. Apart from this, they can also view other user’s changes in just a few seconds. Following Excel application Versions well support this co-authoring feature:
Note: Excel 2019 version doesn’t support this co-authoring feature. This locked for editing by another user error also encounters also when a single user from the multiple users’ group is using the Excel version which doesn’t support this co-authoring. If you are not sure about which Excel version they are using then encourage all to use Excel Online. This will facilities you with this co-authoring feature in the web browser only. Method 6# Stick With These Excel File FormatsFor Windows: In spite of using the co-authoring feature in your Excel application if still you are getting the same locked for editing by another user error. At that time, keenly check the file format in which this specific Excel file is been saved. Make sure that your excel file must be in the following .xlsx, .xlsm, or .xlsb format. If it’s not then, go to the File > Save As > Browse > Save as type option. After that select any one of the .xlsx, .xlsm, or .xlsb formats. For Mac user: Go to the File > Save As… Option and then choose any one of the .xlsx, .xlsm, or .xlsb format. Method 7# Remove Unsupported Features From The FileIf still, you are getting this Excel file in use error then the reason can be the unsupported Excel feature that doesn’t work with co-authoring. So for this, you just need to ask one of your Excel file users to perform the following task. The first option is to turn off the shared Excel workbook feature. If a snapshot is opened from SharePoint then it will open your workbook automatically. If these two solutions fail to work then try the following solutions. Windows:
ConclusionNow you must have got the perfect answer to your query Excel file locked by another user how to unlock. If you successfully fixed this issue with the help of the above-given steps then it’s good. But if you are still unable to fix this issue or unable to follow the below-given steps due to lack of knowledge then you can go with the automatic solution to repair MS Excel errors. Download and install the Excel Repair Tool, and fix Excel editing issues with ease. This tool is very simple to use as you don’t need any professional skills to perform Excel recovery. It is recommended to apply this tool once and make your Excel file error-free without doing anything manually. We’ve already discussed several errors and tried to fix them, if you are new to our website and want to read our latest blogs then kindly visit: https://www.repairmsexcel.com/blog If you have any queries related to the Excel file then kindly contact us in our social accounts like Facebook and Twitter.
* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data. Summary Article Name [Solved] Tutorial to Fix “Microsoft Excel File is Locked for Editing/in Use” Issue! Description Apply the given steps one by one to fix the “Microsoft Excel File is Locked for Editing/in Use” error without need of any professional skill. Author Publisher Name Repair MS Excel Blogs Publisher Logo Priyanka SahuPriyanka is an entrepreneur & content marketing expert. She writes tech blogs and has expertise in MS Office, Excel, and other tech subjects. Her distinctive art of presenting tech information in the easy-to-understand language is very impressive. When not writing, she loves unplanned travels. Why is my document locked for editing by me?When Microsoft Word crashes while you are editing a document, it leaves behind temporary files which may give the impression that you are still editing the document. Then, next time you try to open the document, you will receive an error message saying that it's already locked for editing by you.
How do I unlock OneDrive for editing?Disable Check in and Check out in their OneDrive online and see if the issue persists: log in to Portal >OneDrive> Return to Classic OneDrive(left bottom of the page) > Settings(top-right of the page) > Site Libraries and Lists > choose the folder that have this issue > Versioning Settings > choose NO under Require ...
Why does Word say a document is locked for editing by me?This may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true: Word previously quit improperly and, therefore, did not delete the owner file. A second instance of Word is running in the background with the document already open. The document is shared over a network, and another user has it open.
Why does Excel keep say locked for editing by me?If you have locked the file yourself, it might be because the file is open on a different device, or the previous instance of the file didn't close properly. Tip: Sometimes a file may get locked if everyone editing isn't using a version that supports co-authoring.
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