Unwanted Read-Only Workbook Status

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 15, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Marlene has a workbook that is on a USB memory stick. It is used to track fitness data, such as measurements, weight loss, and so on. It is on the memory stick so she can take it with her to various workout locations. The problem is that Marlene recently tried to open the workbook, and Excel reports that the file is "read-only," even when she did nothing to the file to cause the change. Checking the file's properties in Windows revealed that it is not set as read-only, but Marlene doesn't know how to make the workbook, once again, usable.

The root of this problem is that when the workbook was opened a few weeks ago, Excel was exited after removing the memory stick from the computer. This caused the file to be left in a read-only state because Excel didn't have a chance to do its normal "shutdown" on the file.

There is no way around this problem. The solution is to open the file as read-only and then save the workbook with a new name. You can then delete the original workbook, and the new workbook can be used successfully. In the future you'll want to make sure to give Excel ample time to shut down the workbook before removing the memory stick from the drive.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2898) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Date and Time Formatting Codes

Want to apply a custom format to your dates and times? To do it effectively you need to understand the custom formatting ...

Discover More

Making Sure Word Doesn't Capitalize Anything Automatically

Word, in an effort to be helpful, will often change the capitalization of the words you type. If you tire of Word's ...

Discover More

Countering Compressed Columns

If you open a workbook and find that the width of some of your columns has been changed, the discovery can be ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Automatically Hiding the Personal Workbook

If you leave your Personal.xls workbook visible from one Excel session to another, you may find that you unwittingly make ...

Discover More

Open Workbooks Don't Display

Have you ever opened a workbook, only to have it not display your worksheet data? This can be very disconcerting, but it ...

Discover More

Seeing All Open Workbook Names

Ever want to see a list of all the workbooks that are open? If you open more than nine, Excel only displays the first ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two minus 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.