The other day I started having problems with my excel book becoming read-only no matter what I do.There are several common causes for problems with Excel files being saved as read-only. I have tried all of the following steps that I have found on the internet.
- Check that the file is not in use by another program: if another program or process is using the file while the Excel file is open, the file may become read-only. close the Excel file and then use Task Manager to check if an Excel process is not running behind it.
- Check the file’s properties: Check the file’s properties to see if the read-only attribute is set. Right-click on the file, select “Properties,” and uncheck the read-only checkbox, if it is checked.
- Check the location of the file: If you have saved the file to a network drive or a sync folder (e.g. OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.), it is possible that these services are treating the file as read-only. Try moving the file to a local drive.
- Check Excel options: Excel has an option to set a read-only recommendation when opening files. You can check this setting as follows
- Open Excel and select the “File” tab.
- Select “Info” and check under “Protect document” to see if “Recommend read-only” is enabled.
- Check the impact of your anti-virus software: some anti-virus software may set files as read-only to protect them. Check the anti-virus software settings and try to temporarily disable protection for Excel files if necessary.
I did all of the above but could not solve the problem.
Means solved: updating Office solved the problem, but it was quite addictive.