In SharePoint, why is the "Modified By" column and Version History updating when no changes are made?

Question

When I opened and closed a file in SharePoint, it automatically showed me as the last person who edited the file even though I did not change anything. Why does this happen? Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

Answer 1

Hi @rorygilmore2022

You have two options:

Option 1) Format the Name Column to open files in Read mode

a) Press the dropdown next to Name > Column settings > Format this column

b) Under Format columns > Advanced mode

c) Enter the following json into the textbox as seen below > hit Save:

{  
   "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/column-formatting.schema.json",  
   "elmType": "a",  
   "txtContent": "@currentField",  
   "attributes": {  
      "target": "_blank",  
      "href": "=if(indexOf([$ContentTypeId], '0x0120') >= 0, '?id=' + [$FileRef], @currentWeb + '/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc='+ [$UniqueId] + '&action=View')"  
   }  
}  

(cited from https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/sharepoint/default-view-mode-edit-mode-behavior-for-word-and-excel-online/m-p/226287)

d) Refresh the page and you should see:

Now, when you click on a file, the default behaviour will be "read only" in browser. Therefore, there will be no edits to the file and thus, the Modified By/Updating will not be affected.

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Option 2) You can train your users to hit the ... or right click > go to Preview instead of clicking directly on the file to open (which opens it in Edit mode by default)

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If this is helpful please accept answer.