How to stop Excel file conflicts

Let’s begin with some context and prerequisites. We’re going to go through a solution to resolve problems when you have multiple people working on the same Excel file at the same time. In this example, we’ll assume that you are using Office 365 and that the files live within the Office 365 system.

When you have multiple people all accessing the same Excel sheet, at the same time, you may have problems with One Drive reporting problems, or having multiple versions of the same file, each with different changes in the file. These changes then have to be manually merged and some housekeeping has to be done to remove files so that there remains just one file for everyone to use in the future.

Locate the Excel file using a web browser

The first thing to do is locate the file within a web browser. This might be a Sharepoint Document Library, or it might be the web browser version of One Drive. The point is, to get familiar with how to locate your files using this method, instead of via One Drive on your computer, or File>Open in Excel on your computer.

Open the Excel file using the web browser

Once you have located the file in the web browser, you simply click on the Excel file, and it will automatically open in the web version of Excel, in a new web browser tab. You can work on the Excel file, in just the same way as you have done using Excel on your computer (some features may not be present in the web version).

The benefits of opening the Excel file using a web browser

• Multiple people can access the file using this method, work on the file and there won’t be any issues with conflicts or multiple saved versions of the same file to sort out
• You don’t need One Drive on your computer, or Excel installed on your computer to do this
• You can do this on any computer or device with a web browser

You don’t need Microsoft Office or One Drive on your computer to do this

As a real-world example, I use this method to work on our Excel files using a Linux laptop (that’s a laptop which isn’t running Microsoft Windows), which doesn’t have One Drive or Microsoft Office installed on it. I simply use the Google Chrome web browser on it for everything I do. This means you have a wider choice when it comes to your computer, and it means you could consider replacing older computers that are running Windows 10 (which is going to reach the end of life in 2025) with Linux. You can also use a MacBook or any Apple computer to access files in this way, using the Safari web browser for example.

Opening and working on your Excel files, stop file conflicts and One Drive problems, and you can do this from any computer with just a web browser and an Internet connection.

If you’d like to discuss Excel online in more detail, please contact us at hello@lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk or 01527 908646.

Gavin Moorhouse is the owner of Lucid Computer Solutions, based in Redditch, they provide Office 365 to businesses. Do you want to speak with them about your business? Give them a call on 01527 908646.