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How to remove a file shared with me from Excel on iPad and iPhone

Pete Nicholson 0 Reputation points
2026-05-22T04:38:31.4866667+00:00

I shared 3 Excel workbooks from my Office365 Business account to my personal account. At some point, I deleted the files because they were no longer necessary.

But now in Excel on my iPad and iPhone, these workbooks show up as shared with me, and when i click on them, it comes up with an error saying that there has been an problem accessing the files, which is understandable. But I have no option to remove them from the list.

The same files are not showing up as shared with me in Excel for Mac or Windows, or in OneDrive.

They are only showing up in my iOS devices.

I really want to get rid of them and have tried all of the troubleshooting steps that I have found in Google and ChatGPT.

Has anyone else had this problem of ‘ghost links’ and has Microsoft been of any help?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | iOS

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  1. Kai-Ex 1,480 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-22T05:55:00.02+00:00

    Hi @Pete Nicholson, 

    What you’re seeing is typically caused by cached shared file metadata in the Excel iOS app. Even though the files have been deleted, these files are originally stored and managed through OneDrive.  

    As for my recommendation, kindly follow these steps to clear Excel cache your account in your iPhone device to check if it can help resolve the issue: 

    1/ In settings, select apps  

    2/ Scroll down and choose Excel application.  

    3/ Scroll down and tap on Reset. 

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    4/ Toggle the Clear All Workbooks option ON.   

    5/ Fully close and restart the Excel app. 

    In addition to the previously suggested steps, you can also try to reset the OneDrive apps by following this article: Reset OneDrive - Microsoft Support. Even if the files have been deleted, any cached or unsynced information in OneDrive can still affect what Excel displays. 

    After you have reset your OneDrive apps, follow these steps to remove and re-add your account:

    1/ Navigate back to Settings > Password & Account > click on the account > Delete Account 

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    2/ Re-add the account by following this article: Set up an Outlook account on the iOS Mail app - Microsoft Support 

    I hope you find this information helpful. If anything is unclear, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment."    

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