Problem with Excel permission settings

Question

Hi all,

I have inherited the governance of an Excel file that supports macro (the 'file') in my department at work. I have an issue with this file that I hope someone can help with.

The file has a permission hierarchy with owners that can change everything and editors that can work with certain content. The file is hence protected so only owners and editors can open the file in the first place. The file is published and made available for our organization through SharePoint solution. I am an owner.

When I open the document I get the option to change permission looking like this: https://1drv.ms/i/c/45c6056e33fa6066/EZCVj8BcdrdPgC_RyWOtoZsBNI3W2SAcTWNjTdJ81cdgiA?e=3LqLutIn the Permissions settings and under More Options it is stated that access to this document can be requested from an email address that are in error as shown here:

The problem is that what ever I enter in the field "User can request additional permissions from:" nothing is saved. If I leave the field empty nothing is saved. In short: what ever I do it looks as before when I open the file and it Permissions the next time. Always the same mailto: link and the strange > at the end.

I have tested to edit the file both connected to SharePoint as well as downloaded a local copy to my computer where I tested all alternatives I can think of. Same results.

Note: I apologize for using google drive in this posting, but believe it or not: I couldn't get OneDrive to do the same.

Anyone know where to start?

     .peter

Answer 1

Dear Peter,

We are glad to help you and need to fully confirm the issue in your environment for troubleshooting.

The Google Drive link isn't an Anyone link. When I enter it, I see the following message.

If it is convenient, could you upload some related screenshots here instead? You can click on Reply>Insert image to see whether the screenshots can be uploaded successfully.

About "The problem is that what ever I enter in the field 'User can request additional permissions from:' nothing is saved. If I leave the field empty nothing is saved. In short: what ever I do it looks as before when I open the file and it Permissions the next time. Always the same mailto: link and the strange > at the end.", some related screenshots are also appreciated.

If it is convenient, please open a new file>click on File>Account and upload a full screenshot of the Account page in Excel for our reference.

Note: Remove nay private information before uploading the screenshots.

Meanwhile, I remove the links to get rid of any confusion.

As the file is enabled with macro, is the original file owner in your company now? If yes, may I know whether the original file owner can open the file normally from his side? How do you inherit the file?

If he can still open the file, could you let her temporarily remove the macro in the file and then see whether you can open the file from your side?

Welcome to share any updates at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and effort.

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Thx for your swift reply. I did of course try to include my images in the post in the first place. Tried with two different browsers. Get an error message that it failed to upload. I'll redo everything from scratch here.

The link to permission looks like this:

The related screenshots for how the contact details look like:

The creator of the document is no longer in the organization. All owners (three has tested) experience the same issue, eg. none of us can update the email address or change the field in error. I did not mean inherit the document in a technical way. I mean: I got the task to make changes to the VBA code for the macro and maintain the document. The document can be opened and changed by both editors and owners in all other aspects. Also, other fields in the More options settings can be updated. I can make changes to the checkboxes on "Access content programmatically" and they are saved as they should.

I saved a copy of the file as a .xlsx to remove the macro. The issue remains and I still can't updated the field for request additional permissions.

This is my Account page in Excel:https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/cfb2dd3b-6ced-469a-aa08-b9dc5fe6112e?platform=QnA"https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/00eb5fd2-1b74-430b-8fa3-bd5c532034c0?platform=QnA" title="filestore.community.support.microsoft.com" rel="ugc nofollow">

Answer 3

Dear Peter,

From the screenshots, the library in SharePoint Online is configured with IRM (Information Rights Management). You guess that you open the file by selecting Open anyway. If you don't select that, the file will be protected and not be opened.

If you encounter that, it shows that the administrator applies IRM and add the group containing you to the protection part. When you download the file, you should see the following.

If IRM is enabled with editing on the copy of the downloaded file, after you enable the editing, you should be able to save the file as a copy. However, the copy file is also enabled with IRM.

So I think that the IRM setting in your environment may be like the following.

You can't change the permission by yourself from your side. It needs to be changed in Library Settings>Information Rights Management Settings on the specific library if you have the corresponding right. If you have no permissions, you can let the site owner to disable or update the setting to change the restriction.

Apply IRM to a list or library | Microsoft Learn

Another workaround is to just copy the file to any other library which isn't enabled with IRM to move forward and you will not see any protection message from your side.

Welcome to share any updates at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and effort.

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

Hi,

You do not understand.

I have access. I an owner of the document with all privileges.

I can't update one specific field under the More Options section. I can't change the email address for additional permissions. Neither can any admin in our organization nor the solution owner of our SharePoint. Doesn't matter if I try to change the field on the file in SharePoint or on a local copy of the file on my desktop. The value in the field in question remains the same.

.peter

Answer 5

Dear Peter,

Thanks for your updates.

As you can open the file and the file seems to be configured with IRM, you are the authenticated user to open and view the file.

The root cause should be that the protection group is set by the IRM creator and the file is in the library which is configured with IRM. You are in the protection group and set with the restricted permissions in IRM by the IRM creator. It is by default that you will see that you are limited with the permissions and you can't update the "users can request additional permissions from" part from the file side. By default, users can request additional permissions from is populated with the path of the library which is enabled with IRM.

IRM works for protecting the downloaded file sharing and file viewing.

Could you confirm whether the library is set with IRM? Could you go to Library Settings and see Information Rights Management? If yes, could you click on it to see whether there are some IRM policies?

If yes, you can check whether your email is listed under Owner in the file. If yes, you should be able to click on Info>Restrict Access>Unrestricted Access to remove the protection and move forward from your side.

Thank you for your time and effort.

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator