Editing Shared Excel Sheet in Teams - Issues?

Question

We are corporate users (Office 365) using Teams - we have a simple Excel spreadsheet on a Teams channel with half a dozen users inputting data daily.  We are encouraging users to edit the shared spreadsheet by Opening in Desktop App.

Routinely a user will apply a filter - the issue we have is we cannot clear this filter however we try - the sheet seems to autosave and the option to clear filters is greyed out  Sometimes we can see where a filter has been applied - arrow next to filter button - sometime we can only tell by the sequential numbering not being in order than something has been shifted. 

Now have one user who each time he opens the sheet, it just automatically filters so we are back to a jumble.

We have been reinstating previous versions as a quick 'get out of jail' solution but this is not sustainable as we are losing data.  I am reluctant to resort data as I don't know how sorts and filters have been applied - or at least cannot be sure.

Is the solution a protected workbook to allow data input but prevent filtering?  Is being unable to clear filters just a consequence of using Teams?

Answer 1

Hi Michelle,

Sorry for the trouble caused and apologies for the delay in the response.

Per the description shared, it seems the users in the Excel file are applying the filters in the Excel sheet and you are having difficultly to remove the applied filters. But as you mentioned, the Clear Filter button in grayed out in the Excel sheet, can I know whether you are referring to the highlighted option in the below screenshot:

If yes, I would like to let you know that to remove the filters in the Excel worksheet, you need to go to the Data tab> And Click the Filter button:

At last, I am afraid that if you protect the Excel workbook with a password, users in the Excel workbook can't work together because protected Excel workbook can't be supported for co-authoring which is AutoSave will be turned off.

Best Regards,

Chitrahaas

Answer 2

Hi Michelle,

Please let us know if you need any further help.

Thanks,

Chitrahaas

Answer 3

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for getting back to us and apologies for the delay as I was out of the office due to the weekend.

Generally, the Filter feature in Excel is applied only when users in the Excel workbook selected the range and click on the Filter option in the Ribbon tab. In this case, I assume the user already applied the Filter in the Excel workbook and using AutoFilter. So, can I know whether it's possible to share an Excel file with us? If yes, you can create an Anyone with this link can edit and share the link with us, we will try to remove the applied filter to the Excel file and let you know.

As per my opinion, Teams is a better platform for a team in the organizations where it helps to work and communicate together and brings all data in one place without opening different apps.

Best Regards,

Chitrahaas

Answer 4

Thanks for the reply Chitrahaas - it is also greyed out via the Data tab. 

What I cannot understand is how one of our users is each time he opens the spreadsheet it is auto filtering. We are having quite a few problems with a simple spreadspread that is used for data input.  I am having to restore last good version each time; I think perhaps Teams is not the right platform for our needs .