Disable editing when opened on other pc.

Hi there,

I work for a company where several people have access to Excel spreadsheets through Dropbox. However, the problem we are having is that when one person has one of these files open and someone else opens it as well, we often end up with conflicted copies, because people don't always notice the dropbox warning on the side that someone is already viewing this file.

I was wondering, is there a way that editing will be disabled/or the file opens in protected view when the file is already open on another PC.
It would save me a lot of unnecessary work and confusion.

Thanks in advance!

Fleur

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Here is something that might work for you:

http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...t=#post4560743

Look at post #3

Hi Richard,

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes you're right, when someone else were to open the document at the same time someone else is already working on, they are able to then save it under a different name. The problem is, that this then creates 2 documents in which 2 different people have made changes, resulting in me having to open both files and figure out what has been added/changed to make sure all changes reflect in one document.
I guess, what I am looking for is a way for those who aren't very computer literate to not have the option of saving as a new/conflicted copy. If, say, the file were to open in protected view, where editing is disabled, it would be a lot clearer for them to realize they need to get out of the document until the other person is finished working on it.

I hope this makes sense and there's something available.

Thanks,
Fleur

Thank you, I will have a look into this!