How to Unshare an Excel Workbook on Desktop & Mobile

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Fast ways to stop sharing an Excel workbook on your computer or phone

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: October 15, 2024 Fact Checked

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Unsharing a Legacy Shared Excel Workbook (Desktop)

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Unsharing a Co-authored Excel Workbook (Desktop)

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Unsharing a Co-authored Excel Workbook (Mobile)

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Troubleshooting

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Video

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Q&A

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.

Section 1 of 4:

Unsharing a Legacy Shared Excel Workbook (Desktop)

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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]
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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 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]
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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.
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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]
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    Go to source}
Doing so will completely unshare your document and remove any users not manually removed by you.

Section 2 of 4:

Unsharing a Co-authored Excel Workbook (Desktop)

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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.
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.
It's at the top-right corner of Excel.
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.
If you've generated a link for this workbook, it'll appear here.
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.

Section 3 of 4:

Unsharing a Co-authored Excel Workbook (Mobile)

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1
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.
It looks like a circle spread out to two others and is in the top right corner of your screen.^{[4]
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Go to source}
This displays a list of people you're sharing the Excel file with.
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.
After removing all users from the "Share" page, your Excel document will no longer be shared.

Section 4 of 4:

Troubleshooting

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Because Co-authoring is replacing the older Shared Workbook feature, you won't be able to click the Shared Workbook button on the Review toolbar in Excel unless you add the Legacy version of this feature to the Quick Access Toolbar. Use these steps to add a Shared Workbook (Legacy) button to the toolbar so you can unshare the workbook.
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I can't stop sharing an Excel workbook with certain people. If you can't select a user to stop sharing with or there is no option to delete or remove their access, the person likely has the workbook open. Wait until they're finished and try again.
- If your organization uses SharePoint and you're an admin, you can manually close the file for them through the document library.^{[5]
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Make sure you are signed in to an account that's subscribed to Microsoft 365 and that you have permission to edit the workbook.

Community Q&A

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Question

If I unshare a workbook to copy a sheet, can I then re-share the workbook?

Community Answer

Yep! You can share any Excel document as many times as you like.

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