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Fast ways to stop sharing an Excel workbook on your computer or phone
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If you want to stop sharing an Excel file with others, there's an easy way to do it. The process differs slightly depending on whether you're using Excel's legacy shared workbook feature or Microsoft 365's newer co-authoring feature. This wikiHow guide teaches you how to stop sharing a Microsoft Excel workbook on desktop, iPhone, and Android platforms and includes helpful troubleshooting tips.
Quick Steps
- Click the Review tab.
- Click Share Workbook or the Share Workbook button.
- Remove the checkmark from "Allow changes by more than one user."
- Click OK .
Steps
Section 1 of 4:
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Open the Excel workbook you want to unshare. Microsoft recommends using the "co-authoring" feature of Microsoft 365 instead of sharing workbooks, as it ensures shared workbooks can be edited in Excel for Web. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source If you still have an Excel file that you previously shared with others, use this method to unshare it.
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Click the Review tab at the top.Advertisement
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Click Share Workbook or Share Workbook (Legacy) . You may see this option in the "Changes" section of the Review tab. If you don't see it (or it's grayed out), you can add it to the Quick Access Toolbar to restore the old Shared Workbook features to your newer version of Excel. After you follow these steps, you'll see a "Shared Workbook (Legacy)" option in the Quick Access Toolbar, and you need to click it to continue. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
- Windows
- Click the File menu and go to Options > Quick Access Toolbar .
- Under "Choose commands," select All Commands .
- Select Share Workbook (Legacy) and click Add .
- Select Track Changes (Legacy) and click Add .
- Select Protect Sharing (Legacy) and click Add .
- Select Compare and Merge Workbooks and click Add .
- Click OK .
- Mac
- Click the Excel menu and go to Preferences > Ribbon & Toolbar .
- Click Quick Access Toolbar .
- Click Review Tab under "Choose commands from."
- Select Share Workbook (Legacy) and click the > to add it to the list.
- Click Save .
- Windows
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Uncheck the box at the top of the window. This box is next to the "Allow changes by more than one user at the same time" section.
- If the checkbox isn't there or is grayed out, the workbook is protected. To unprotect it:
- Close the Share Workbook window by clicking OK .
- Click the Review tab and select Unprotect Shared Workbook .
- If needed, enter the workbook's password to continue.
- Click the Shared Workbook option again on the Quick Access Toolbar.
- Remove the checkmark from the "Allow changes by more than one user" box. [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
- If the checkbox isn't there or is grayed out, the workbook is protected. To unprotect it:
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Click OK . Doing so will completely unshare your document and remove any users not manually removed by you.
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Section 2 of 4:
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Open the Excel workbook you want to unshare. Microsoft no longer recommends using the older "Shared Workbook" feature for collaboration in Excel. If you subscribe to Microsoft 365, have the latest version of Excel installed on your PC or Mac, and have been collaborating on a shared workbook with someone else, you're likely using the "co-authoring" feature instead of the "Shared Workbook" feature. In this case, to stop sharing the file, you'll need to remove access from the people you're collaborating with.
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Enable editing (if in Protected View). If you downloaded the workbook from OneDrive or Sharepoint, you may see a yellow bar at the top of the file that says "Protected View." To make changes, click Enable Editing on the bar to edit the workbook.
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Click the Share button. It's at the top-right corner of Excel.
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Click Manage Access . It'll be near the bottom of the menu.
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Remove access from individual users and groups. If you are sharing the workbook with specific people or groups, you can remove access from their accounts to stop sharing the workbook.
- On the People tab, click the menu next to each person's name, click Direct Access , click the menu, and select Remove Direct Access .
- On the Groups tab, do the same to remove access for any groups.
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Click the Links tab. If you've generated a link for this workbook, it'll appear here.
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Click the trash icon and confirm. This deletes the shared workbook link, making it inaccessible to anyone accessing it over the web. Once you've completed all these steps, the Excel workbook will no longer be shared.
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Open the shared workbook in the Excel app. If you want to stop sharing an Excel workbook you're co-authoring with others on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, you can do so using the mobile app.
- If you aren't logged into your Microsoft 365 account, tap Sign in to log in now.
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Tap the Share icon. It looks like a circle spread out to two others and is in the top right corner of your screen. [4] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
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Tap Manage (Android) or Shared with (iOS). This displays a list of people you're sharing the Excel file with.
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Unshare the workbook with specific people. Under "Manage Permissions," you'll see all users with access to this workbook and the type of permission they have to edit it. To stop sharing, tap the person's current permissions (e.g., "Can Edit"), then tap Remove or Stop Sharing , depending on your platform.
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Repeat the removal process for all users. After removing all users from the "Share" page, your Excel document will no longer be shared.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionIf I unshare a workbook to copy a sheet, can I then re-share the workbook?Community AnswerYep! You can share any Excel document as many times as you like.
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References
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/about-the-shared-workbook-feature-49b833c0-873b-48d8-8bf2-c1c59a628534#OfficeVersion=Windows
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-happened-to-shared-workbooks-150fc205-990a-4763-82f1-6c259303fe05#ID0EBBF=Newer_Windows_versions
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/about-the-shared-workbook-feature-49b833c0-873b-48d8-8bf2-c1c59a628534#OfficeVersion=Windows
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/collaborate-on-excel-workbooks-at-the-same-time-with-co-authoring-7152aa8b-b791-414c-a3bb-3024e46fb104#PickTab=iOS
- ↑ https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/is-it-possible-to-boot-someone-out-of-a-shared/46fca37b-6c5b-47e6-bfb2-2968ae545f08
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Reader Success Stories
- "Being a shared document was limiting the functions I could use in Excel. This story helped me remove this so I could edit my document with no problems." ..." more
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