When you want to collaborate with others on a workbook, first open it, then click the Share button on the upper-right of the Excel screen. If you’ve ever collaborated on documents or presentations using the Office 2016 versions of Word or PowerPoint, you’ll be familiar with how to do it in Excel. It’s a convenient way to tell whether you’ve got a version of Excel that allows for live collaboration.) (This slider shows up in version 1707 Build 8326.2058 or later, but no versions before that.

To do it, choose the “On” option on the AutoSave slider on the top left of the screen. Second, real-time collaboration works in Excel only if you have AutoSave turned on. Sharing a spreadsheetĪ few notes before getting started: First, you can collaborate only with files stored in OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint Online, so make sure any files you want to share are stored there and that you’re logged into your Office 365 account. įor Office 365 subscribers who have updated to Version 1707 Build 8326.2058 or later, how do you collaborate in Excel, and how well does it work? Read on for details. At some point, Microsoft says, the non-subscription desktop version of Excel will also get collaboration features, but the company isn’t saying exactly when.

And now, finally, real-time collaboration is available in the desktop version of Excel - at least for those who have an Office 365 subscription and have updated to Version 1707 Build 8326.2058 or later.Įxcel 2016 users who don’t have an Office 365 subscription (or users of older versions of Excel) can’t currently collaborate from within the desktop version of Excel, although they can still collaborate (or invite others to collaborate) using Excel Online in a browser. Word, PowerPoint and OneNote were given collaborative editing tools, but Excel was not.įor nearly two years, Microsoft has been promising that Excel would get the capabilities as well. Ever since Microsoft introduced live collaboration to its Office suite with the release of Office 2016 in September 2015, Excel has been left out in the cold.

How do live visuals work