Office Settings & Configuration

How to Disable Real-Time Presence Highlights in Excel Co-Authoring

Kushani Nimanthika Oct 15, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to stop Excel from highlighting cells that are currently being selected or edited by other people during collaborative editing.

How to Disable Real-Time Presence Highlights in Excel Co-Authoring

Product: Excel for Microsoft 365
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Collaborating with multiple users on a shared Excel workbook in real-time.
Observed behavior: Excel displays real-time presence indicators by highlighting the specific cells other users are actively selecting, which the user finds distracting.

Before you start

Note that Microsoft Excel currently does not offer a built-in feature to toggle off presence highlights while remaining actively connected to a live, co-authored document.

Solution 1Recommended

Edit the Workbook Offline as a Workaround

Since real-time highlights cannot be disabled natively during live collaboration, working offline allows you to edit the document without seeing others' selections.

Editing the document offline prevents Excel from pulling live data from other users, effectively stopping the colored cell highlights. Once you reconnect to the internet, your changes will sync with the shared document.

Open the shared file

Open the shared Excel workbook from your OneDrive or SharePoint as you normally would.

Disconnect from the internet

Temporarily disconnect your device from the internet, or navigate to 'File' > 'Save a Copy' to save the file locally to your computer.

Edit without distractions

Perform your necessary edits. You will no longer see the real-time presence highlights from other collaborators.

Reconnect and synchronize

Reconnect to the internet (or upload your saved changes) so Excel can synchronize your updates with the shared cloud file.

Edit the Workbook Offline as a Workaround

Synchronization Delay: Keep in mind that while working offline, you will not see others' updates either, which could lead to version conflicts if you edit the exact same cells.

Solution 2

Submit Feature Feedback to Microsoft

Since this limitation is by design, submitting feedback lets Microsoft know there is a demand for a toggle switch for real-time presence indicators.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn off the colored boxes around cells in Excel?

If the colored boxes appear because someone else is currently selecting or editing the cell in a shared workbook, you cannot turn this off natively in Excel while co-authoring. You must edit the file offline to stop seeing them.

Why do I see other people's names popping up in my Excel spreadsheet?

This is the real-time presence feature of Microsoft 365. It shows exactly where collaborators are working in a shared document to help prevent overlapping edits and data conflicts.

How can I hide my own presence from other users in Excel?

You cannot hide your presence while actively co-authoring a live shared document online. You must work offline or download a local copy to remain invisible to other users.

Will working offline to avoid highlights cause me to lose my changes?

No, as long as you save your offline edits, Excel will attempt to merge and synchronize your changes with the cloud version once you reconnect to the internet. However, be cautious of editing the same cells others might be working on.

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