Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Sharing Your Workbook.

Sharing Your Workbook

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 21, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016


Excel allows multiple people to access a workbook at the same time, if desired. This can be very handy when a workbook is in active use or development, and there are multiple people in your department who all have a hand in the process. You can share a workbook in this way:

  1. Load the workbook you want to share.
  2. Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
  3. Click the Share Workbook (Legacy) tool, in the Changes group. Excel displays the Share Workbook dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Editing tab of the Share Workbook dialog box.

  5. Choose the Allow Changes check box.
  6. Click on OK.

This is the simplest way to share access to a workbook. There are other options available in the Share Workbook dialog box that should be examined, however. Notice that the dialog box also lists the users currently accessing the current workbook. It should go without saying that when you first share a workbook, you are the only user that will be listed in the dialog box. However, if you again display the Share Workbook dialog box at a later time (such as when you are thinking of turning sharing off), there could easily be multiple users listed.

Notice, as well, that the Share Workbook dialog box also contains an Advanced tab. This tab is where you can specify how changes should be handled by Excel.

The whole idea behind sharing a workbook among multiple users is that Excel tracks any changes made and then, at a later date, you merge together everyone's work. The Advanced tab is where you indicate how you want Excel to prepare for this future time. Here you can specify how changes should be tracked, when changes should be updated, and what to do if Excel detects a conflict between changes specified by two or more users.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8486) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Sharing Your Workbook.

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

Printing Formatted Comments

When you print your worksheet, you may want Excel to include your comments or notes as they appear on the screen. Here's ...

Discover More

Mirroring Documents

Have you ever wanted to have a Word document be accessible through two different folders? Here are several ways you can ...

Discover More

Column Formatting Based On a Filter

When working with filtered data, you may want to specially format a column that has a filter applied to it. Here are a ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Copying a Single Worksheet from Many Workbooks

Sometimes it is helpful to copy worksheets from one workbook to another. If you have dozens of such worksheets to copy, ...

Discover More

Excel Not Responding

Have you ever been working with data in Excel and experienced a "freeze" where the program stops responding? This can be ...

Discover More

Worksheet Deletions Don't Reduce Workbook File Size

When you delete items from a workbook, it is natural to think that the workbook's file size should decrease. This may not ...

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 7 + 9?

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 ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu 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.