How to Share Excel Files with Other Users Safely and Effectively

In the modern world of work, sharing information and collaborating with colleagues is very common. One of the most effective ways to collaborate on data processing is to use Microsoft Excel.

Excel files are one of the most commonly used file formats for storing numeric and text data. Excel files are often used for work, school, or personal purposes. It’s common to share Excel files with others, for example, to collaborate on a project or to share data.

However, the question that often arises is how to share Excel files with other users for collaboration purposes. There are several ways to share Excel files. The most common way is to share it online or offline.

In this guide, we’ll explain some of the ways you can easily and securely share Excel files with other users.

How to Share Excel Files with OneDrive

OneDrive is a cloud storage service from Microsoft that lets you store, access, and share your files from a variety of devices. One of the advantages of using OneDrive is that you can share Excel files with other users online, without having to send files via email or other media. Here are the steps:

1. Save your Excel file to OneDrive. You can choose File > Save As > OneDrive – Personal (for personal files) or OneDrive – <Company Name> (for work files). Enter a file name and select Save.
2. Select Share on the ribbon or select File > Share. If the file hasn’t been saved to OneDrive, you’ll be prompted to upload it first.
3. Set permissions for the people you want to share the file with. You can choose who can edit or only view your file. You can also add a password or expiration date if necessary.
4. Enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to share the file with. You can also add a message if you want. Select Submit.
5. People you share the file with will receive an email with a link to open your Excel file in a browser or Excel app. They can edit or view the file according to the permissions you grant.
6. If you want to co-edit an Excel file with other users at the same time, make sure everyone has the file open in the Excel app. You can see who’s editing the file in the upper-right corner. Colored cells will show where everyone is working in the workbook.

How to Share Excel Files with SharePoint

SharePoint is a collaboration platform from Microsoft that lets you create websites, lists, documents, and more. One of the advantages of using SharePoint is that you can share Excel files with other users in your organization or team online, without needing to install the Excel app on their devices. Here are the steps:

1. Save your Excel file to SharePoint. You can choose File > Save As > SharePoint – <Site Name> (for existing sites) or SharePoint – Other (for new sites). Enter a file name and select Save.
2. Select Share on the ribbon or select File > Share. If the file hasn’t been saved to SharePoint, you’ll be prompted to upload it first.
3. Set permissions for the people you want to share the file with. You can choose who can edit or only view your file. If a SharePoint site has specific user groups, you can also select those groups.
4. Enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to share the file with. You can also add a message if you want. Select Submit.
5. People you share the file with will receive an email with a link to open your Excel file in a browser or Excel app. They can edit or view the file according to the permissions you grant.
6. If you want to co-edit an Excel file with other users at the same time, make sure everyone has the file open in the browser. You can see who’s editing the file in the upper-right corner. Colored cells will show where everyone is working in the workbook.

How to Share Excel Files with Shared Workbooks

Shared workbooks is a feature of Excel that lets you share Excel files with other users on a local network, without the need to use cloud services like OneDrive or SharePoint. However, this feature has some limitations and risks, such as change conflicts, slow performance, and data loss. Therefore, it is recommended to use this feature only if you have no other options. Here are the steps:

1. Store your Excel file in a location that other users on the local network can access, such as a shared folder or network drive.
2. Open your Excel file and select Review > Share Workbook. If you don’t see this option, make sure you’re using a version of Excel that supports this feature, such as Excel 2010 or Excel 2013.
3. In the Share Workbook dialog box, check the box that says “Allow changes by more than one user at the same time. It also allows merging workbooks”.
4. Select the Advanced Editing tab and set the options you want, such as the frequency of autosaves, the number of days of change history, and the list of users allowed to edit the workbook.
5. Select OK and save your Excel file.
6. Tell other users to open your Excel file from the same location. They can edit the file according to the permissions you grant.
7. If you want to see who’s editing the file, select Review > User List. If you want to see changes made by other users, select Review > Changes > View Changes. If you want to merge changes made by other users, select Review > Changes > Merge Changes.

Conclusion

There are several ways you can share Excel files with other users, depending on your needs and preferences. You can use OneDrive or SharePoint if you want to share Excel files online with people outside your local network. You can also use a shared workbook if you want to share Excel files offline with people in your local network. However, you should be careful of the risks and limitations that may occur when using this feature. Hope this article helped you understand how to share Excel files with other users easily and safely.