

Note that if your computer doesn’t have a shared folder that is accessible to the remote user, you won’t be able to unlock a file by this method.ġ. And another, the file may be opened and locked by an application that is still actively alive in the background even though it’s been closed by the user. For one, the file might be opened by another user on the same network because the file is part of the shared folder on your computer. There are a few reasons why your file may have been caught in locked position. You often ended up closing all your opened applications and rebooting your computer to clean up the locked handles so that you can deal with these files. Select Tools > Excel Add-ins and then clear the check box for the add-in.Locked files are annoying, especially those locked in mystery as to no reason why they are locked and what has been holding them off. Inactivate an add-in that's causing the lock. Then uncheck Refresh data when opening file.

Select the table or PivotTable, then go to the Table tab > Refresh > Connection Properties. Turn off the Refresh data when opening file setting on all tables and PivotTables in the file. Go to File > Restrict Permissions > No Restrictions. If Protect Workbook is highlighted, click it to turn off protection. If possible, remove password encryption from the file. Select File > Options > Add-Ins > Excel Add-ins > Go and then clear the check box for the add-in. Select the table or PivotTable, then go to Table Tools Design > Refresh > Connection Properties. Go to File > Info > Protect Workbook and remove any passwords or restricted access settings. If possible, remove password encryption or restricted access from the file. If those two solutions don't work, try one or more of the following.

Also, if you are opening a snapshot from SharePoint, open the workbook itself instead. The first thing to try is to turn off the Shared Workbook feature. Ask the person who has the file open to do one or more of the following. If you are trying to co-author, the “locked” error can occur if the file uses a feature that is not supported by co-authoring.
