How to Fix Excel SharePoint Collaboration Overwriting Users' Entries
Question details
Multiple users collaborating on an Excel file in SharePoint or OneDrive are experiencing data loss because their entries overwrite each other.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Users are collaboratively editing a shared Excel workbook via the desktop application with AutoSave disabled, choosing to merge changes when prompted.
- Observed behavior
- Despite selecting the option to merge changes, users' edits conflict and overwrite one another's entries during the sync process.
Make a local backup copy of the affected Excel workbook before attempting any troubleshooting to ensure no further data is lost during the testing process.
Enable AutoSave and Adjust Co-Authoring Practices
Prevent future overwritten entries by ensuring real-time synchronization is active and optimizing how your team edits shared documents.
When AutoSave is disabled, Excel relies on a manual merge process that can struggle with conflicting edits. Real-time co-authoring works best when AutoSave is turned on and users avoid simultaneous edits to the same cells.
Open the workbook in the Excel desktop app and toggle the 'AutoSave' switch in the top-left corner to 'On'. This ensures changes are synced to SharePoint in real time.
If desktop syncing remains unstable, have your team open the file directly in their web browser using Excel for the web, which handles simultaneous editing more reliably.
Coordinate with your team to avoid editing the exact same cells or ranges at the same time. Assign specific sheets or columns to individual users to minimize merge conflicts.
Investigate SharePoint Sync and Contact Support
Escalate the issue to your Microsoft 365 Administrator to investigate potential server-side synchronization errors or specific Office build bugs.
Try WPS Office for Seamless Real-Time Collaboration
Tired of dealing with SharePoint sync conflicts and overwritten data? WPS Office provides a free, lightweight alternative with highly reliable cloud collaboration, ensuring your team can edit documents simultaneously without losing important entries.
- 1. Download and Install: Get WPS Office for free from the official website and install it on your device.
- 2. Upload to WPS Cloud: Save your Excel workbook to WPS Cloud to enable seamless real-time syncing.
- 3. Share and Collaborate: Generate a collaboration link and share it with your team to start co-authoring without sync conflicts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Excel prompt me to merge changes but still overwrite my data?
When AutoSave is disabled, Excel attempts to merge changes upon saving. However, if multiple users edit the exact same cell or range, the system struggles to resolve the conflict, often resulting in the last saved version overwriting earlier edits.
Can I recover entries that were overwritten in SharePoint?
Yes, you can often recover lost data using Version History. Right-click the file in SharePoint or OneDrive, select 'Version History', and view or restore a previous version of the document from before the changes were overwritten.
Does disabling AutoSave improve Excel performance for shared files?
While disabling AutoSave might slightly reduce network traffic for exceptionally large files, it severely limits real-time collaboration features and significantly increases the risk of merge conflicts and overwritten data.
