Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 does not prompt the user that the that file is open by another user.

Question

We have a small smb share with excel documents, recently a problem showed up when users can open documents already opened by another user. There is no prompt that the files is already open and both users have the file open with ability to edit. It happens when file is open for some time, how does Excel know that the file was closed? Can I do something to prevent it?

Answer 1

Hi @Andrzej Wojciechowski

I suggest you go to the same directory of the these Excel workbooks and check if there are any hidden file created with "~$" symbol with the same file name after users open Excel workbooks.
Please make sure users have enough permission for smb share folder.

Besides, here is a similar thread "Users NOT prompted file is already open by another user?", if users are accessing these files over the network on an SMB share, pleasse check the Group Policy settings for network drives mapping and make sure it is set to Update instead of Replace.
(Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may changed without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.)

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Answer 2

I checked the GPO of the network drives and indeed the option was set to replace instead of update. I hope it will resolve the issue. Thank you very much!