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Excel or Sharepoint forces to open xlsm file in edit mode; read-only mode is unavailable or ignored

Karol Kwiatkowski 0 Reputation points
2023-11-24T20:29:17.6066667+00:00

Hello,

The xlsm file is located on the Sharepoint drive.

Using Excel 2013, users could open this file for editing or read-only. In the case of read-only mode, we used the "/r" switch by running excel.exe.

After updating Office to Office16 (LTSC), Excel is unable to open a .xlsm file in read-only mode. The "/r" switch does not work, the "Read-only" function from the context menu does not work, and the Always Open Read-Only function does not work too. Setting the "read-only" attribute for this file also does not work. It appears that Excel is somehow forced to open the file in editing mode, because when opening the file, the "[Read Only]" label appears but disappears within a second or two.

If I move the same file to a drive other than Sharepoint, Excel is able to open in read-only mode, just like Excel 2013.

I'm asking for advice on how to solve this problem so that I can open the xlsm file in read-only mode.

Best regards,
Karol

Excel
Excel
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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SharePoint
SharePoint
A group of Microsoft Products and technologies used for sharing and managing content, knowledge, and applications.
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Office Management
Office Management
Office: A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Emily Du-MSFT 51,831 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2023-11-27T06:53:56.91+00:00

    From the SharePoint respective, check out will affect the default behavior of open file in the read-only mode.

    Go to Library settings -> Versioning settings -> Require Check Out -> Set "Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited?" as "Yes".

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