Can you transfer ownership of an Excel spreadsheet or make someone a co-owner?

Hi Charlene,

For your concern, you can co-author the spreadsheet by granting editing permission. However, Excel doesn't have an option to transfer owner permission because the ownership is controlled by where the file lives, and since you are the one who created the document, the file tied to your OneDrive account. Even if you already give editing access, that can only make your coworker become a collaborator, not truly transfer ownership and the file is tied to your account and still lives under your OneDrive.

To transfer ownership, the two best options are:

1/ Have your coworker make her own copy

• Let her open the workbook and go to File > Save As (or File > Create a copy if using Excel web version)
• Create/Save a copy of the workbook into her OneDrive > now she is the owner of that sheet
• Share the new copy back with anyone who need access
• You can stop sharing or delete your original file if appropriate

2/ Move it to a Teams/SharePoint site (best business approach)

• Upload or move the file to a Teams channel or SharePoint site that both of you are members
• That way, ownership belongs to the site team and is no longer tied to your OneDrive.
• Then give her appropriate permissions such as Owner of the site/library and reshare the SharePoint/Teams file link

Hope this information would be helpful for your concern. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out again in the comments on this post. I'm happy to assist you further.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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