Protecting Workbook Structure on Excel uploaded to Teams

Question

Hi,

Recently - there has been changes made to workbooks which are uploaded to teams, meaning that even if you protect the workbook structure before uploading, this protection no longer holds if the file is uploaded to teams, meaning people can add, move, rename and even delete sheets.

Can anyone advise why this was changed, if it was intentional and whether or not it can be changed back or if there is another way to prevent people with access to shared workbooks making changes to the structure.

Thanks,

Jonnie

Answer 1

Dear Jonnie,

Thanks for posting in Microsoft Community.

According to your description, it looks like you have protected an Excel workbook and uploaded it to Teams, but other users can still add, move, rename and delete sheets in the workbook.

May I know if my understanding of the scenario is right?

If yes, I did a test from my side. Firstly use Excel desktop app to protect a workbook via Review >Protect workbook > set a password. Then I upload the workbook to Files tab in a channel.

When other user in the team open the workbook, it shows the add sheet button(+ button) is grayed out, and if the user right clicks a sheet, it shows most of the options are grayed out.

We understand you want to prevent people from changing workbook structure in Teams.

As we cannot reproduce the issue, we'd like to help you do troubleshooting, could you confirm information below? It will help narrow down the situation.

1.How did you protect the workbook before uploading it to Teams? Did you use the same steps as we mentioned above? If not, could you share with us your detailed steps?

2.If a user right click a sheet in the workbook in Teams, what options do they get? Could you share a screenshot when a user right click the sheet?

3.Does the issue happen to uploaded workbooks in a specific team or different teams in Teams?

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Hope you have a nice day and stay safe and healthy always.

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Tina,

Thanks for the response. In answer to your questions:

1. I protected the structure using the steps you outlined above, including adding a password.
2. Here is a screenshot of what you get when you right click on a tab for the workbook in question within the team where issue is occurring:

3. I was unable to replicate the issue on a separate team - I uploaded the same file to a different team and when trying to add sheets/rename/change the order - the options are greyed out as intended.

Could there be some setting within the team that is causing it to ignore the protected structure within the file? Very confused but this is causing a lot of issues with file structure being inadvertently or intentionally edited, so I'm eager to find a solution.

Kind Regards,

Jonnie

Answer 3

Hi Jonnie,

Thanks for posting back and share these detailed information with us.

So the issue only appears in a specific team in Teams as the same file works fine when uploaded to a different team.

To be honest, we didn't find any significant settings in Teams that can let it ignore the protected structure within the file. And we tested from our side and still cannot reproduce the issue.

To do further investigation, we sincerely recommend you contact your Microsoft 365 administrator and help you create a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center>Support>New service request.

The support team over there has higher permission than us to remotely help you. They also have permission to check the team further. They can involve more resource and will help you further. This would be a more efficient way in handling this case for you.

For reference:   Get support | Microsoft Docs   How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin 

Thanks for your patience and understanding. Hope you keep safe and healthy always!

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator