Issues accessing certain Sheet Views in Excel (Microsoft 365)

Question

I'm working on a large web-based Excel document housed on a Sharepoint Site. I've created several Sheet Views and password protected the worksheet allowing users to 1) select locked cells 2) select unlocked cells 3) sort and 4) Use AutoFilter.

For some reason, while the worksheet is protected, I'm able to switch to all Sheet Views except two. When I try to switch to those, I get the error message "This sheet is protected. Some parts may be view only and can't be changed," In order to access these two views, I have to take off protection.

I've checked to ensure that the protection settings don't look any different within these views than they do for the other accessible Sheet Views. Any ideas what is happening? Thanks in advance.

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**Moved from: **Microsoft 365 and Office

Answer 1

Hi @Sonya Gurley,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Based on your description, the issue might caused by how protected sheets interact with Sheet Views in SharePoint‑hosted workbooks. I have also tested this in my own environment, and I was able to reproduce the same issue on my device.

There are some users having the same issue and several work-around methods that I found in another forum that might help you resolve the issue: Sheet View in a protected sheet | Microsoft Community Hub. 

In case all checks have passed but the issue persists, kindly navigate to Help > Feedback in your Excel application and then submit feedback on your issue. This will make sure the development team can release the fix patch in the future. 

Note: Please understand that as a forum moderator, my primary goal is to provide helpful guidance and support through general troubleshooting steps. While I don’t have access to internal systems or test devices required to resolve backend/account issues, I truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations.  

Thank you for choosing Microsoft, and I am looking forward to your response. If anything is unclear, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. 

Answer 2

It seems that the issue you're experiencing with accessing certain Sheet Views while the worksheet is protected may be related to the specific settings or configurations of those views. When a worksheet is protected, certain actions can be restricted based on the protection settings applied. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Protection Settings: Double-check the protection settings for the two Sheet Views that are causing issues. Even if they appear similar to the other views, there may be specific configurations that are preventing access.
2. Locked vs. Unlocked Cells: Ensure that the cells that are part of the problematic views are not inadvertently locked or that their permissions are not set differently compared to the other views.
3. View-Specific Restrictions: Sometimes, specific views may have additional restrictions or filters applied that could affect their accessibility when the sheet is protected.
4. Excel Online Limitations: Keep in mind that Excel for the web may have certain limitations compared to the desktop version, which could impact how Sheet Views function under protection.

If after reviewing these aspects the issue persists, you may want to consider removing the protection temporarily to adjust the settings of those specific views or consult Microsoft support for more detailed assistance regarding this behavior.

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References:

• Excel Services Known Issues and Tips
• Protect a worksheet