Excel Says the File Is Locked for Editing by Another User

‘report.xlsx’ is locked for editing by ‘another user’. The message is precise and almost always wrong about who. Excel does not track users — it tracks a lock file sitting next to the workbook. If that file is stale, the lock outlives the person who created it. ...

12 October 2026 · 4 min · 833 words · EasyOfficeFix