


In such a scenario, activate Microsoft Office or renew the Office subscription. If MS Office is in a deactivated state or its subscription has expired, the Office documents, including the Excel, could be in 'read-only reduced functionality mode.' You may also disable the Protected View setting via File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings…> Protected View. However, you can click File > Info and then click ' Edit Anyway' to access and edit file content. This security feature allows you to read or view Excel files and reduces the risks to the computer system or PC. It may also open an Excel workbook in Protected Mode when it detects a problem with the file. To safeguard the system, MS Excel opens such files in Protected View. The file may potentially contain viruses, worms, or other types of malware that could damage the system or the server. The error may appear when you try to open an Excel file received as email attachments or downloaded from unsafe source. This will allow you to edit, modify, and save the Excel workbook without encountering the “Excel cannot access 'xxx.xls.' The Document may be a read-only or encrypted” error message. In such cases, try adjusting the antivirus settings to open the Excel files normally.

Now try to open the Excel document and check if the problem is fixed.Ī few antivirus programs block Excel files and other Office documents by opening those in 'read-only' mode. Uncheck the ' Read-only' attribute and then click the ' OK' button.Right-click on the particular Excel (xls/xlsx) document and select ' Properties'.To check if this is the case, follow these steps: The 'Excel cannot open read-only documents' error message may appear when the Excel file property is set to read-only. Remove Read-only Attribute from Excel File Properties.Solutions to Open and Edit Read-Only Excel Documentsīelow are a few solutions that can help you fix the 'Excel cannot access 'xxx.xls.' The Document may be read-only or encrypted' error and allow you to open and edit Excel documents. Damaged or missing MS Office (MS Excel) program files.File or drive read/write permissions issues.There could be several reasons that may cause the error. Reasons behind the “Excel cannot access 'xxx.xls.' The Document may be read-only or encrypted” Error
