Excel Error: The file couldn't open in Protected View.

[freder1ck]

Anyone know of changes in Office 365, Excel (we're on the semi-annual channel, so we updated in Jan) that would cause this error to come up more often? It comes up when they export to Excel, but I can't reproduce.

In the last few weeks, I have 3 users who have let me know about this. They are saving to download folder, and using Chrome and Firefox.

[collinq · Accepted solution]

Hi @freder1ck ,

I believe that you should ask this question in the Excel support group as this is the Power BI support.

[freder1ck]

@collinq:  
Yep, I've done that also. However, because this is ONLY happening with Excel export from Power BI and not any other sources, I thought it was worth a shot here as well. 

[collinq]

Hey @freder1ck .

So, you are using Power BI?  In reading your original post I was assuming that this was an Excel only thing.  Are you saying that in Power BI, when the user uses "Export to Excel" they are getting a Protected View excel sheet?  As in, Password Protected or just the "Enable Editing" option on the top of the Excel form?

[freder1ck]

Yes, I see now that I did not say Power BI in my post. I did post it to the Power BI community and I categorized it under Power BI Service. I also referenced the Power BI Service functionality of export to Excel.

So, it's not the bar at the top. That bar says: PROTECTED VIEW Be careful—files from the Internet can contain viruses. Unless you need to edit, it's safer to stay in Protected View. [Enable Editing]. No this message says: The file coundn't be opened in Protected View. 

If you haven't seen this error from Power BI export to Excel, that's cool. I never see it personally. I was checking to see if others had run into this before. 

[collinq]

Hey @freder1ck ,

I am not an Excel expert but it seems that maybe there is something in the "trusted category" in either the browser or Excel.  I found these links:

Fix: Can't Open files in Protected View (getdroidtips.com)

Excel: This File Couldn't Open in Protected View - Technipages

 Let me know if that is helpful.