Excel 2016 & 2013: Force “Open as Read Only” Prompt

If you have a file that is sensitive to changes, you can force Excel 2016 or 2013 to prompt the user to open as Read Only whenever they attempt to open the file. Here’s how to enable this setting.

1. In Excel, select “File” and click Save As.
   
2. Excel 2016 users select “More options…“. Excel 2013 users can skip to step 3.
   
3. Choose “Tools” > “General Options” at the bottom of the window.
   
4. Select the check-box for “Read-only recommended“, then select “OK“.
   
5. Select “Save“.
6. If prompted, choose “Yes” to update the file with the read-only setting.

That’s it! Anybody who opens the file in Excel will now be prompted to choose “Open as Read-Only“.