Excel files reverting to read only attribute after updating linked charts in PowerPoint

I'm grateful to Justin for his meticulous documentation since I'm having the exact same issue.

While I'm able to clear the read only attribute, I'm lazy to reboot, and this led me to noticing something else. The file is locked by another process. If I force close Excel (running as a background application), it unlocks the file and I am able to reopen it without the read only attribute.

Hi Justin,

If you need any further help, please let us know to assist you.

Thanks,

Chitrahaas

Hi Justin,

We’re sorry if our reply made any confusion at your end.

Automatic Update option in the Edit Links will be turned off automatically if Use Office application to sync Office files that I open is turned on in OneDrive Sync client. If this option is turned off, changes you made to the files locally will not be synced to same file and it creates a new file, for more reference you can refer to this article: Use Office applications to sync Office files that I open.

Now coming to your situation, as you mentioned “it only needs to be opened and updated once per day”, while doing tests I observed a workaround that satisfies your requirement:

a. After making the changes to the Excel files, make sure all the content is synced to your local OneDrive folder.

b. Now click on OneDrive icon in taskbar> More> Settings> Office tab> Uncheck “Use Office application to sync Office files that I open”> OK

c. Now open the PowerPoint presentation present in SharePoint synced folder> File> Edit Links> Check Automatic Update option> Close the Edit Links> Now close the entire presentation (click on the Save when it gives a prompt to save).

d.  Now re-open the PowerPoint presentation and you will get a Notice> Click on Update Links> Once all the data is updated> Close the presentation file by saving it. (Note: Don’t makes any changes in the presentation)

e. Now click on OneDrive icon in taskbar> More> Settings> Office tab> Check “Use Office application to sync Office files that I open”> OK

Appreciate your patience.

Thanks,

Chitrahaas

Hi there, my snip of the Ofc subscription is attached below.  Here is the sequence as it occurs, it is different than your understanding:

a. I had a chart in Excel file.

b. Copied the Excel chart and pasted it in PowerPoint presentation using “paste special", link radio button.

c. all files originated on the same sharepoint site, in different folders 

d. Synced the SharePoint document library to your device using OneDrive sync client - because without doing this, the links would not update at all when I opened powerpoint.  I read here on the forums that a way to make it work is sync the folders using oneDrive and that makes it work. 

e. Opened powerpoint file and click update links

f. Linked charts all update fine in the PowerPoint file

g. All excel files now become read only, whether I open them from my file explorer, or through browser in sharepoint.  They are read only both in the app and if trying to edit in a browser.

h. Go to file explorer, right click on each excel file, go to properties, clear the radio check box for read only (if it is checked -- half the time it is checked, half the time it isn't, but either way I cannot open the file in edit mode even if it is not checked, it still opens in read only)

i. Even after clearing the check for read only if it was present, I cannot open the file in edit mode again until I reboot my machine.

j. reboot machine

k. go back to excel files, they are now all editable either in sharepoint or in my synced one drive file explorer.

l. If I go back to powerpoint and click update links, the whole thing starts over again. 

Your other questions:

b. Does this problem happens with specific source files or all the source files linked in PowerPoint presentations?

It happens with all the PowerPoint linked excel files - there are 3 different files linked.  They all exhibit this problem.

c. What happens when you move these files to locally and test?

It works fine if I do it locally, it doesnt have any issue.  But locally is not an option, the excel documents are updated by multiple employees throughout the day, and this data is aggregated to build metrics that are reviewed daily at team meetings via the powerpoint deck.  Hence, none of these files are accessed by my local machine... the excels are accessed by multiple terminals throughout the building, and the powerpoint is accessed by a different terminal in the conference room. 

It seems crazy that this functionality wouldn't work in the sharepoint environment.  I have used it for years and years (a couple decades?) in other organizations via shared drives with no problems. 

Hi Justin,

We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused by the problem.

From the description provided, let me summarize your problem for better understanding the situation:

a. You had a chart in Excel file.

b. Copied the Excel chart and pasted it in PowerPoint presentation using “Use Destination Theme & Link Data”.

c. Uploaded the both Excel file and PowerPoint presentation to SharePoint site.

d. Synced the SharePoint document library to your device using OneDrive sync client.

e. Opened the files from synced folder and encountering some problem intermittently.

Note: If our summary is not correct, we’re sorry and can you please provide the detail description about it.

Linking the Excel chart into PowerPoint is best recommended when the files are stored in local device, from our test when we open the source file (Excel file) via (PowerPoint presentation> File> Info> Edit Links> Open Source) the file is not in Read-only mode (tested several times).

So, we want to confirm the following scenarios for moving further:

a. Screenshot of Office Account page. (Open any Office application> Account)

Note: Please mask the email address and tenant name to protect your privacy.

b. Does this problem happens with specific source files or all the source files linked in PowerPoint presentations?

c. What happens when you move these files to locally and test?

d. If you can recall any changes made before this problem occurs, please provide them to us.

Appreciate your understanding.

Regards,

Chitrahaas