How To Create A Read-Only File In Excel And How To Remove It Likewise!

Written by co-founder Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist.

Sometimes nosotros may take an Excel workbook that would be sensitive to changes.

For instance, Jake, who reached out to us and asked:

I have an Excel file with some of import functions. How tin I share this file with my clients without assuasive them to brand changes to information technology?

Jake Kurtz

In this instance, it will be necessary to protect the workbook from any changes intentional or otherwise by other users that have access to it.

Nosotros may notwithstanding want to allow a user to make changes and relieve those with a new filename or to a different location.

A cracking way to ensure the integrity of such a workbook file would be to enable the 'read-only recommendation'.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

*This tutorial is for Excel 2019/Microsoft 365 (for Windows). Got a unlike version? No problem, y'all tin can however follow the exact aforementioned steps.

What practise you want to learn?

How to create a 'READ-ONLY' file

Let's say we maintain a monthly report that we make changes to as new data becomes available.

Nosotros now demand to share the updated report to users that demand the new data and metrics.

However, we want to make sure that any changes fabricated by other users do not get saved to the original file. Instead, these users will be forced to rename the file – or to salvage information technology to a different location.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

We can practise this past making sure other users can choose the option of 'read-simply' mode to decrease (but non eliminate) risk of the file being inverse.

The first step in how to make a file 'read just' is to enable the setting

1: Become to the 'File' tab and select 'Salvage As'.

Save As menu
Browse

3: Click on the 'Tools' dropdown at the lesser of the 'Relieve As' dialog box.

Tools drop-down

iv: Select 'General Options' from the list.

5: Make certain the 'Read-just recommended' box is checked in the 'General Options' dialog box and click 'OK'

Read-only checkbox

6: Select 'Salvage'.

It's that simple.

Now every time the file is opened, the user will be prompted to 'Open every bit read-only?'.

Open as read-only prompt?

Annotation: This method allows the choice of 'Yes', 'No', or 'Cancel'

If the user clicks 'Yes' to the question to open up as 'read-merely', no changes to the original file (name) can be made.

This doesn't quite mean that nosotros cannot brand changes to the open file.

For anyone wondering how to change a 'read-merely' file, there actually is a chip of a workaround.

Note in the adjacent figure that if nosotros try to relieve a 'read-only' file that it prompts united states of america to change the file proper name or location.

Change name or save location

So that's how to change a 'read-just' file!

We only rename the 'Save As' filename or salve it to a different file location.

It's a pretty simple procedure to save a workbook equally 'read-just' and it adds some actress control over the workbook.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

But information technology's really not protecting information technology from changes since each user that opens the workbook has the option not to open in 'read-only'.

It'southward more than of a reminder to anybody who might forget that "hey, don't mess this copy upwardly!".

At present that we have covered the steps to make a workbook file 'read-merely' let's wait at how we remove the 'read-only' selection…

How to remove 'read-but'

Allow's now turn to the task of how to remove 'read-only' recommendations from the file.

For instance, say it's to add together new data and brand some calculations. This updates the metrics for the stakeholders that use the written report.

Nosotros need to have a way to remove 'read-only' from our file in gild to hands save the changes to the electric current filename.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

One matter to note is that our workbook must not be open in 'read-only' mode for usa to be able to actually relieve our changes later we remove 'read-but'.

Remember…

When nosotros open a 'read-just recommended' file that it prompts us for a 'Yes' or a 'No' to the question of whether nosotros would like to open as 'read-only' or not.

We need to click 'No' in order to be able to save our changes.

one: When opening the file, select 'No' when prompted.

Read-Only prompt

two: Click on 'File', then 'Salvage Every bit' and so click on 'Browse'.

Browse

3: Click on 'Tools' at the lesser of the 'Salve Equally' dialog box and select 'Full general Options'.

4: Once the 'General Options' dialog box appears, uncheck the box next to 'Read-only recommended'.

Uncheck read-only recommended box

five: Then click 'OK' and the workbook is no longer in 'read-only' mode.

There are a couple of things to note about workbooks that are opened as 'read-merely'…

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

Kickoff, if we open up a file in 'read-just' there is an indication at the elevation of the file in the filename that the workbook is, in fact, 'read-only'.

Read-only indication in filename

Another affair to annotation is what will happen if we try and save changes to the same file that is in 'read-merely' mode.

Cannot save as that name

As yous saw earlier, the only manner to save changes to a 'read-only' file is by renaming it or saving information technology to a unlike location.

Conclusion

So, there it is. The bones steps to both enabling and disabling 'read-just' manner in Excel 2016.

It's a simple technique that tin can provide more than control over the integrity of files without going to the extremes of things like password protection.

Furthermore, it nonetheless allows other users to make changes but ensures they can only do so past renaming the file or saving it to a different location than the original file.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto