SharePoint Document Issues

How to Hide Active User Indicators in SharePoint Documents

Aamir Naveed Akram Sep 30, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user wants to remove or hide the highlighted cells and presence indicators that appear when multiple users are viewing or editing a shared SharePoint document.

How to Hide Active User Indicators in SharePoint Documents

Product: SharePoint Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Collaborating on large team Excel or Office documents where the presence of multiple users creates excessive visual clutter on the screen.
Observed behavior: SharePoint Online displays highlighted cells and active user indicators for anyone who has Read, Contribute, or Edit permissions currently accessing the document.

Before you start

Note that SharePoint Online does not have a native toggle button to simply hide co-authoring presence indicators. You will need library administrator access to adjust versioning settings or manage access permissions as a workaround.

Solution 1Recommended

Enable Document Check-Out to Prevent Co-authoring Clutter

By forcing users to check out documents before editing, you disable real-time co-authoring, which effectively eliminates active user indicators.

This is the most effective workaround if your primary goal is to stop multiple cursors and user highlights from appearing on a document. It restricts editing access to one person at a time.

Open Library Settings

Navigate to the SharePoint Document Library where your files are stored. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top right corner and select 'Library settings'.

Access Versioning Settings

If prompted with a modern settings panel, click 'More library settings'. From the library settings page, click on 'Versioning settings'.

Require Document Check Out

Scroll down to the 'Require Check Out' section. Select 'Yes' under the option 'Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited', and then click 'OK' to save.

Enable Document Check-Out to Prevent Co-authoring Clutter

Collaboration Impact: Enabling this setting prevents multiple users from editing the file simultaneously. Users will need to manually check the document back in before others can make changes.

Solution 2

Restrict File Access Permissions

If only specific users need to view or edit a document, removing excess permissions will prevent unnecessary users from triggering the presence indicators.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn off co-authoring highlights directly in the Excel desktop app?

No. If a file is hosted on SharePoint or OneDrive and co-authoring is active, the presence indicators are built into the synchronization engine. They cannot be turned off locally via Excel settings while keeping real-time collaboration enabled.

What happens if I check out a document in SharePoint?

Checking out a document locks the file for your exclusive use. Other users will only be able to view the last saved version of the file in read-only mode and cannot make changes until you check the document back in.

Why do users with only 'Read' permissions show up as active users?

SharePoint's presence engine displays anyone who currently has the file open in their web browser or desktop application, regardless of whether they have editing rights or just view rights. This is why read-only users still generate visual indicators.

Document & File Issues