Personal.XLSB is Locked for Editing

Question

Did anyone see the warning (Personal.XLSB is Locked for Editing) when an application tries to launch an excel document after a different excel document is open manually?

The files are coming from my own machine. It is ok (no warning) if I launch an excel document manually after a different excel document is open manually.
It is also ok (no warning) if an application launches an excel document after another application or the same application launches a different excel document.

PS
Windows 10 Enterprise
Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise

No password for any excel documents for testing

.NET 5 VB project
Dim filePath As String = "C:\Users\Zhen.Z\test-epplus.xlsx"
Dim psi As ProcessStartInfo = New ProcessStartInfo(filePath) With {.UseShellExecute = True}
Process.Start(psi)

Answer 1

Hi @Zhen ,
Based on the message, I suggest you try these methods:

1. Hide the preview pane in Windows File Explorer, then reboot.
   
2. Open Excel- go to File- Options- Advanced- check the option "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)"
   

I also suggest you refer to this article:
https://poetengineer.postach.io/post/how-to-fix-file-in-use-personal-xlsb-is-locked-for-editing

Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link.

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Answer 2

Hi @Emi Zhang-MSFT ,
We don't have the issue when opening an excel document by Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel in .NET framework 4.7.2 project.
Is there any property we can set in ProcessStartInfo to achieve the same result? Thanks,

PS
.NET 5 VB project
Dim filePath As String = "C:\Users\Zhen.Z\test-epplus.xlsx"
Dim psi As ProcessStartInfo = New ProcessStartInfo(filePath) With {.UseShellExecute = True}
Process.Start(psi)

Answer 3

This was an issue for me related to a macro I created. Option 2 in the answer from Emi Zhang-MSFT corrected the read-only issue for me.