In addition to protecting an Excel worksheet with Read-only mode, you may want to do so for any number of reasons. Possibly, you don’t want someone to edit the file intentionally or accidentally, that’s why you don’t want someone to make changes to your worksheet. This is why read-only mode is highly effective to protect your files.

The opened sheet appears as readable only and another person cannot make any changes to it. So, the question here is how to remove read-only from Excel without deleting data. Sometimes the author protects the file so that the file remains safe and nobody could edit it.

In some cases, it might be possible that you have downloaded the file from the internet that’s why you don’t know about the author and the file is protected with read-only mode. Well, there could be so many reasons for a file being protected with read-only.

Today, we will get to learn about read-only mode and how can you remove it from an Excel sheet.

Excel Sheet is Protected with Mark as Final 

In the first instance, why your Excel sheet is in read-only mode because it is marked as final by the original author. If this is the main reason, you can identify it by seeing a notification mentioned on top of the page saying, “Marked as Final.”

If you notice this message, you will not be able to edit the sheet. No editing or typing can be done in this situation. Don’t worry about it, you can still edit the sheet by just following a simple step.

• Click on the “Edit Anyway” button given at the end of the message.
• The Excel sheet will open up in editing mode. The read-only mode is removed now.

Excel Sheet is Protected with the “Save As” Option 

In the second case, the reason behind the activation of read-only mode is that it could be because the file is saved in read-only mode. You cannot make changes to it.

To open the document in editable mode, click on the “No” button

On the other hand, if you don’t want to edit it, simply click on the “Yes” button.

Below are some steps in detail:

• When you open the file, you will see three options to open the read-only document.
• You simply have to click on the Yes button to open it in read-only mode.
• In case, when you need to edit the file and want to save changes, you will get a new notification asking you to save a copy and rename it.
• Click on OK and choose General Options from the Tools tab to open the Save As dialog box.
• From this option, uncheck the “Read-only recommended” option and click OK once again.

Click on the Save option and you will get a copy of the original Excel sheet. The second file that you just copied will be editable and you can easily make changes to it.

These steps will remove the read-only mode from the Excel sheet.

Unlock Password Protected Excel Files with Read-Only 

Sometimes a file is password protected that’s why you could not make changes to it. In that case, when you open a workbook a message will appear with an alerting mode in which you are required to put the password. Without entering the password, the file will not be able to open up.

Below are some steps you need to follow: 

1. When the password box opens up, click on the option Read Only to open the file.
2. Click on the File and choose Save As option.
3. Now, click Tools and choose General Options.
4. Remove the entry in the Password to Modify box and press OK.
5. Now, open the new Excel file rather than the old one.

If File Properties are Set to “Read Only” 

If you are facing the Read Only mode because of the settings of the file, you can simply remove it by following these steps:

1. Right-click on the filename given in the file browser
2. Choose Properties from the context menu
3. You will see the Properties dialog box
4. Find the Read Only check box in the Attributes category
5. Uncheck the Read-only check box
6. Click OK

Final Thoughts

So, this is how to remove Read-only from Excel by using multiple methods. Each reason that makes you face this issue comes with a solution as well, that’s why you don’t need to be worried about it. Be steady and continue exploring Excel.