Windows 11 folder keeps reverting back to read only

What all the confusion boils down to is the UI doesn't make it clear that the checkbox is a command along with a status indicator. Filled in with a "-" means the folder can have read only files in it, but doesn't indicate whether it does or not. It's the default for folders. For what it's worth the checkbox does work as intended. I did just verify that putting a check in the box (click twice) makes all the files in the folder read only, and unchecking the box removes the read only status of all files in the folder as long as those files are not locked. You will get an error after clicking Apply or OK if you don't have permission to edit any file(s) in the folder the system attempts to change. If you remove read only status from all files in the folder the box will revert to filled in with a "-" the next time you pull up properties for that folder. As I said before, it's the default and you can safely ignore it - it doesn't mean the system changed files in the folder back to read only. Most definitely not the way I would have scripted this part of the UI, but I guess it made sense to whoever did.

I believe some of the people posing questions in this thread have file locks or network share issues that result in not being able to save edited files.

LesFerch - Thanks, and keep up the good work. Just remember you can't get through to everyone.

Your friendly neighborhood hacker, oops, system security specialist. lol.

Nice to hear from someone who gets it! 🙂

And it reminds me that a lot of people seeing that interface are assuming that a read-only attribute is the same as read-only permissions. As I'm sure you know, even if the folder attribute were set to read-only (and we know it isn't) it would have no effect on whether you could save, delete, or change files within the folder. It only controls whether you get an "access denied" message when you try to delete the folder at a command line. It doesn't even cause any warning in Explorer.

It's a shame that users waste so much time barking up the wrong tree when they see this interface instead of looking at things that really could matter, such as the ownership and permissions on the folder or a problem with the application etc. If their files are getting into a read-only state we'd like to focus on what's causing that and not get distracted by this non-issue.

Thanks to Microsoft for devising one of the most misleading interfaces ever and sticking with it for decades!

All I've been asking for is a fix or workaround. Keep it simple!

Let me ask again...IS there a workaround for when someone on a network makes changes to a document on another PC, Word or Excel or ANY, and it either pops up that the doc is READ ONLY or reverts back to READ ONLY and changes are not kept.

Simple question.

All I've been asking for is a fix or workaround. Keep it simple!

Let me ask again...IS there a workaround for when someone on a network makes changes to a document on another PC, Word or Excel or ANY, and it either pops up that the doc is READ ONLY or reverts back to READ ONLY and changes are not kept.

Simple question.

Hi Pete,

I cannot find any previous message from you regarding a read-only issue with Office documents. I recommend that you open a new question with an appropriate title, such as "Office documents on network become read-only".

It sounds like your issue is related to multiple users/computers opening the same document. Whether you're seeing expected behavior or a bug will need to be determined via closer examination of the scenario and the messages that are displayed. There may indeed be a simple workaround, but more information is needed.

You may find some useful information at these links:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/why-did-my-file-open-read-only-3ab4b792-da50-4b38-8628-14c64e1f1d15

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/excel/all-excel-file-suddenly-become-read-only/m-p/3772157

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/network-shared-office-files-not-read-only-reliably/9e651807-80f3-42cb-b81a-12837e303b5f

https://community.spiceworks.com/t/excel-2019-files-opening-as-read-only-on-shared-network-drive-for-single-user/745610

Les

@LesFerch I just have to say I have been using windows for about 30 years now and I have been a tinkerer of its systems for the simple reason that it does not always look or behave the way that you want it too. This nonsense that you are claiming that every folder in windows has always had a read only attribute attached to it for the files inside is preposterous and categorically false. And even if it was true a read only attribute would never be meaningless, seeing as the main reason for the possession of any computer for the vast majority of people is so the they can create and write new changes to files. If every file on the God forsaken machine was read only none of us would ever get anything done, and programmers would be out of a job. I cant even install new tools for visual studio right now now can I compile a dll I am working on and I can promise you my filesystem said nothing about "READ ONLY" attributes until two days ago. Get-ChildItem -Path . -Recurse | ForEach-Object { $_.Attributes = 'Normal' } will not work in powershell ,/ icacls "MacOS Icons" /grant:r Users:(OI)(CI)F /T will not work in command prompt. smart-screen is turned off as is any other security layer that could be interfering and even Microsoft support themselves could not fix it last night while taking control of my PC. YOU are the one barking up the wrong tree by spreading misinformation as a generalized truth.