How to Stop Sharing an Excel Workbook Without Losing Saved Edits
Question details
Users need to remove collaborators from an Excel Shared Workbook without deleting the changes those collaborators have already made and saved.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- The workbook owner wants to restrict access or disable the legacy Shared Workbook feature while preserving all team contributions.
- Observed behavior
- Saved changes are retained when a user is removed, but unsaved edits from active users are lost. Additionally, users may still incorrectly appear in the active user list even after closing the workbook.
Ensure all active collaborators have finished their tasks, saved their progress, and closed the workbook before you proceed with disabling the sharing features.
Safely Remove Users and Disable Legacy Sharing
The standard method to remove users and turn off the Shared Workbook feature in Excel without losing critical data.
When using Excel's legacy Shared Workbook feature, turning off sharing will preserve all edits that have already been saved to the document. However, any unsaved work by active users will be permanently lost. It is crucial to coordinate with your team before taking action.
Ask all users currently working on the file to save their changes and completely close the Excel workbook on their devices.
Navigate to the 'Review' tab on the Excel ribbon and click on 'Share Workbook' (or 'Legacy Share Workbook', depending on your exact version of Excel).
Go to the 'Editing' tab within the dialog box. Select the name of a user you want to remove from the 'Who has this workbook open now' list and click 'Remove User'. Repeat this for all users except yourself.
Once all users are removed and you have confirmed changes are saved, uncheck the box that says 'Allow changes by more than one user at the same time' and click 'OK'.
Upgrade to Modern Co-authoring with WPS Office
Tired of dealing with legacy Shared Workbook limitations and locked files in Microsoft Excel? WPS Office provides modern, real-time cloud collaboration, ensuring team edits are automatically saved and synced without the risk of data loss.
- 1. Download and Install WPS Office: Get the free WPS Office suite from the official website and install it on your device.
- 2. Open Your Excel File: Open your existing .xlsx workbooks directly in WPS Spreadsheet without any formatting loss.
- 3. Collaborate in Real-Time: Upload the file to WPS Cloud and invite team members to co-edit simultaneously with automatic saving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will removing someone from a Shared Workbook delete their saved work?
No. As long as the user has successfully saved their changes to the workbook before you remove them or turn off sharing, their edits will remain securely in the file.
Why do users still appear in the Shared Workbook after they close it?
Excel's legacy Shared Workbook feature does not always refresh the active user list immediately. You can safely select their names and manually remove them from the list if you have confirmed they saved and closed the file.
What happens if I turn off sharing while someone is still editing?
Any unsaved changes made by active users will be permanently lost when you turn off the sharing feature. Always verify that all work is saved and users have closed the document before disabling sharing.
