When an excel file is open by another user it show (for some user) : excel file is locked by "windows user" but It should show the name of the user.

Question

Hello,

So I had this issue within my organization :

When an excel file is open by another user it show (for some user) : excel file is locked by "windows user" but It should show the name of the user,

So I did my research on this problem and I find a solution :

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\UserInfo]

"UserName"="user's name"

The registry entry was set on "Windows user"

So I changed the registry entry on user that were affected, and it solved the issue on file that were created recently, but older file (4/6 month) still show "Windows user" when it's open by them.

I already tried to find a corrupted temporary file in the folder, but it's not the issue.

There is no sharing right problem on the server

Thanks for help.

Answer 1

Here is where the value is set

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It is a leftover from the introduction of corporate networks and allowed primitive file sharing. Users are supposed to put their name, or network login in that place. That name is used in the "Lock file" generated when you open an Office file. If the file was saved the on the network and someone else tried to open it they would see the user name and know who to contact to get access to the file. BUT, most people do not set the name so it has a generic value, which makes it very annoying instead of useful.

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That name is also used in the "lock file" that is created on the local drive when you.

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The value is saved as part of the file when it is initially created. So, it is not surprising that old files have useless values.

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Answer 2

Hi Thibault SZIDON,

I would add more information here. You can change author name of an existing workbook in File>Info, as you can see in the article: Change the author name for documents, presentations, or workbooks.

Regards,

Clark

Answer 3

Thanks all for the information it was really helpful,

I found a solution to my problem. Only 2 files were affected, after using your fix, so I copied the file out of the File server and then I copied in and replaced the older version then everything was fine after this manipulation.