I have just migrated my old iMac files (Sierra) to a new iMac (High Sierra).
I find Excel will not open the Excel files. It says they are locked (by me, it says!) but I can open them Read-Only.
I have never locked an Excel file; I don't know how! Searching Excel help finds nothing for "lock" at all.
Please help!
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4), Calendar 10,Mail 11.3,Contacts 11.
When you open an Excel file, it creates a separate "lock file" with the name ~$originalfilename.xlsx.
If you don't close the original file properly that lock file still exists and won't let you open the file for editing until you delete it. (Sometimes even if you DO close the original file properly, the lock file doesn't delete for some reason).
Do a search for "~$*.* and delete all the lock files.
That should solve the problem.
When you open an Excel file, it creates a separate "lock file" with the name ~$originalfilename.xlsx.
If you don't close the original file properly that lock file still exists and won't let you open the file for editing until you delete it. (Sometimes even if you DO close the original file properly, the lock file doesn't delete for some reason).
Do a search for "~$*.* and delete all the lock files.
That should solve the problem.
If I search for ~$*.* in Finder, as opposed to Spotlight, then they all appear and I can select them all and delete them.
I've been trying to find an option in Finder to view "hidden files" that you might have turned off, but can't.
Are you logging in with an Administrator User account, or a Standard account?
Thank you, gordonfromfoxt. Yes, Wow: I can see those files when I put ~$ into Spotlight. But how do I delete them, as I cannot see them in Finder, except in the Spotlight window?
Is there a Terminal command required?
Excel says file is locked
