Avoid exclusive access using VLookup on other spreadsheets?

Hello All,

I was hoping someone might be able to help me. I have a few spreadsheets that I want to use VLookups on, basically to look up a project code in another spreadsheet (Column A1:A999999) and copy across the project name and other details into the spreadsheet.

So it would be like

Status spreadsheet VLookups the Project Spreadsheet.

But the problem is that when I do a VLookup on another spreadsheet it seems to make the Project Spreadsheet Read Only. Is there any way i can open the spreadsheet read only by the VLookup formula so that other people can continue to open it and use it without it being made read only due to the exclusive access provided by the VLookup.

I would need to include an IF statement, so that if the project ID includes F then VLookup ProjectSpreadsheet B, else VLookup ProjectSpreadsheetA. But am stuck on the exclusive access.

Thanks for your help!

The spreadsheet is on a mapped network drive which all users have access to, how do i share it?

Thanks for that, the network I am on is a two site network, one in Melbourne and the other in Sydney. The server to which the excel file is located on is in Melbourne, however when people in Sydney go to open this file it takes a painful amount of time to open.

It is an ADSL2+ link between sites, and the file is only 1 - 2mb in size, any ideas on how to reduce this opening time, as it is preventing me from keeping the workbook shared .

Thanks for any advice,