File in use Error- Excel is locked for editing which is opened by me

Question

I am unable to edit the excel from shared location. getting an error "xx is locked for editing by me. Open read-only or click notify...". i have followed below steps however receiving the same error,

• Restarted the machine
• waited for couple of days just incase server reaction is slow
• disconnected and re-mapped the drive

Could you please help to check and let me know what could be the cause for it?

Your help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi MJ_786_459,

Thanks for posting in the community.

According to your description, I assume the excel workbook stored in Windows Server and when you open it, the error message always pops on. If the workbook is stored in an online drive, like SharePoint, please point out and let me know.

If so, please try the following suggestions:

1. Please open Excel, click File> Options> Save, under Cache Settings, tick the option “Delete files from the Office Document Cache when they are closed” and click Delete cached files. After that, reopen Excel and open the workbook again.
2. Please try the steps in this article.

***Disclaimer:***Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.​

3. Here are the references that may help you

Wrong user name is displayed in the Folder In Use dialog box when you try to open an Excel worksheet in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2

"The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when you try to open a document in Word

Also, if the issue still exists, I would like to collect more information.

1. Does this behavior in other files? If not, please make a copy of the affected workbook (click File> Save as and save with a different name). After that, check again.
2. Have you enabled the feature Share Workbook (Legacy)? If so, please disable the option “Use the old shared workbooks feature instead of the new co-authoring experience”

If you have any updates, please feel free and come back to share with us.

Regards,

George

Answer 2

Thank you so much for your detail response.

Yes, the excel file is stored in shared network location, \<server IP address\some location where we usually map the standard network drive for all users. i.e., K drive

I have got user availability next week. Once i checked the above steps, will respond to this forum.

Happy Weekend!

Answer 3

Hi MJ_786_459,

Thanks for posting back. When you have time, you are welcome to come back and let us know any updates.

Regards,

George

Answer 4

Although this tip is written for Word, it applies to Excel too

"The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when you try to open a document in Wordhttps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/-the-document-is-locked-for-editing-by-another-user-error-message-when-you-try-to-open-a-document-in-word-10b92aeb-2e23-25e0-9110-370af6edb638
When you try to open a Microsoft Word document, you receive an error message similar to the following:
“The document file name is locked for editing by another user. To open a read-only copy of his document, click...:
where file name is the name of the document that you tried to open.
This behavior may occur if Word determines that the owner file for the document already exists. This may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:
.    Word previously quit improperly and, therefore, did not delete the owner file.
.    A second instance of Word is running in the background with the document already open.
.    The document is shared over a network, and another user has it open.
.