How To Fix The Sharing Violation Error in MS Excel

In this tutorial, we will show you how to fix the Sharing Violation Error in Excel. This spreadsheet app from Microsoft seems to be giving a tough time to a few of its users. When they are trying to save their data in their Excel spreadsheet, they are being greeted with a violation error. The complete error message reads as: “Your changes could not be saved to ‘FileName’ because of a sharing violation. Try Saving to a different file.”

As to the reasons for this error, it could be due to authorization issues with the indexing of the folder that holds the concerned Excel file. Likewise, if the Sharing Wizard is disabled, then the above-mentioned error might pop up as well. Along the same lines, a third-party antivirus or firewall app might also conflict with the saving of this Excel file. In this guide, we will list out the steps to fix these issues which will then fix the Sharing Violation Error in Excel as well.

How to Fix a Sharing Violation Error in Excel

Here are all the potential fixes to rectify this error. Try each of them until you achieve success. Follow along.

Fix 1: Index the Folder having the Excel file

if the File Indexing of the folder that has your concerned Excel file isn’t authorized, then there is every chance of getting the violation error message. With that said, here are the required steps to carry out the indexing process.

1. Head over to the folder where that spreadsheet file is located, right-click on it, and select Properties.
2. Then go to the General tab and click on Advanced.
3. Under the Advanced Attribute dialog box, go to the Archive and Index attributes section.
   
4. Finally, tick-mark the Allow files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file Properties option.
5. Click Apply followed by OK. Now try saving the Excel file and check if the Sharing Violation Error has been fixed or not.

Fix 2: Save it to a Different Location

So even after indexing the directory, you are getting a violation error, then probably you should try saving that Excel file to a different location. Well, even the error message reads out as “Try Saving to a different file”. So let’s make full use of this tip. Furthermore, it is also recommended that you save it with a different name. Here is how it could be done:

1. Open that Excel file and click on File from the top menu bar.
   
2. Then select the Save As option from the left menu bar.
   
3. Select a different location than where the file is currently saved.
4. Also, give it a different name and hit the Save button.

Now launch the file and see if Sharing Violation Error in Excel has been fixed.

Fix 3: Enable Sharing Wizard

If the Sharing Wizard settings of the folders on your PC is disabled, then Excel might throw up the violation issues. So the best route forward is to enable this feature right away.

1. To do so, launch the Run dialog box using the Windows+R shortcut key combinations.
2. Now type in “control folders” in the box and hit Enter. This will bring up the File Explorer options.
3. Go to the View tab and make sure that the Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended) option is enabled.
   
4. If it’s not, then select that option and click on Apply > OK.
5. Try saving that Excel file and check whether the Sharing Violation Error in Excel has been rectified or not.

Fix 4: Disable Antivirus Program

In some cases, an antivirus program could conflict with the spreadsheet file. Therefore, you could temporarily disable the antivirus app. In this section, we will show you how to do so for the Windows Defender app. If you are using any other third-party antivirus program, then search for that option accordingly.

1. Use the Windows+I shortcut key combination to launch the Settings page and select the Update and Security option.
2. Then head over to the Windows Security option from the left menu bar. Click on Virus and Threat Protection from the right side.
   
3. Next up, click on Manage Settings under Virus & Threat Protection.
4. Finally, disable the Real-Time Protection toggle.
   
5. Once that is done, open the Excel file and the violation issue would have been fixed.

With that, we conclude the guide on how to fix the Sharing Violation Error in Excel. We have shared four different methods for the same, any one of which should rectify the issue. Do let us know in the comments which method worked out for you. Furthermore, here are some useful iPhone Tips and Tricks, PC tips and tricks, and Android Tips and Trick that you should have a look at as well.