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Cannot write to an Excel file pulled from my external backup drive attached to my MAC

Paul Rudovsky 0 Reputation points
2026-05-11T20:45:49.4133333+00:00

I pulled an excel file from an external back up drive to my MAC hard drive with write permissions...these files are always read only (unless they were pulled from my MAC hard drive).

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS

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  1. Kai-H 18,195 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-13T10:54:28.9433333+00:00

    Hi, Paul Rudovsky

    If the file came from a backup drive, macOS may have carried over hidden metadata or old ownership details from the backup, even if you never manually made the file read-only. So Excel may be reacting to the way macOS now sees the file, not to anything you intentionally set in Excel.

    Besides the solutions provided by the Q&A Assist, here are some suggestions you can try:

    First, open Excel, then use File > Save As and save the workbook with a new name as a fresh .xlsx file in your Documents folder. If that works, use the new copy going forward.

    If it still opens read-only, it is suggested that you remove hidden macOS attributes. Open Terminal and run:

    xattr -c

    Then drag the Excel file into Terminal after the space and press Enter.

    Also try copying the file using Finder’s Duplicate option instead of dragging it from the backup. If many files are affected, run Disk Utility > First Aid on the backup drive, as the backup drive may be preserving old permissions or metadata incorrectly.

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-05-11T20:45:58.9133333+00:00

    Excel files copied from an external backup drive can open as read-only on macOS for several reasons. Use these checks and fixes on the copy that is now on the Mac’s internal drive:

    1. Check macOS file attributes
      • In Finder, right-click the Excel file > Get Info.
      • In the General section, make sure Locked is not checked.
      • In the Sharing & Permissions section, confirm the current macOS user has Read & Write access. If not, change it to Read & Write.
    2. Check if the file is marked read-only in Excel
      • Open the workbook in Excel for Mac.
      • Go to File > Info.
      • If Protect Workbook is set to Always Open Read-Only, turn this off so the file no longer opens as read-only.
    3. Check for restricted permissions / IRM
      • If the file is rights-managed (IRM-protected), a message bar appears.
      • Select View Permissions (or Change Permissions if available) and review what actions are allowed.
      • If the account used on the Mac does not have write rights, the file will remain read-only.
    4. Check for “locked for editing” conditions
      • If the file is stored in a shared location (OneDrive/SharePoint) and shows as locked, remove features that block co-authoring (for example, workbook protection, restricted access, or password encryption) from a version that can be edited:
        • On Mac, open the file and go to Review > Protect Workbook to turn off protection (enter password if prompted).
        • Go to File > Restrict Permissions > No Restrictions if restricted access is set.

    If, after these steps, files copied from the backup drive still behave differently, copy one affected file to a different local folder (for example, Desktop or Documents) and test again. If it works there, the original folder or drive may have inherited permissions that are forcing read-only access.

    References:

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