How to Allow Open in Excel but Not Edit in Excel

How to Allow Open in Excel but Not Edit in Excel

I came across an intriguing question on the Business Central forum: how to allow the "Open in Excel" feature while prohibiting the "Edit in Excel" feature. Although it seems challenging, there are straightforward ways to achieve this through permission management and customization.

Key Differences:

• Open in Excel: Allows changes in Excel without publishing back to Business Central.
• Edit in Excel: Allows changes in Excel and publishes them back to Business Central using the Excel Add-in pane.

Solution:
Users assigned to the "EXCEL EXPORT ACTION" permission set can access both features. To restrict "Edit in Excel" while allowing "Open in Excel", follow these steps:

1. Permission Management:

   • Create a new permission set excluding the Codeunit 1488 Edit in Excel Workbook permission.

2. Customization:

   • Modify the permissions to only include "Export Report DataSet to Excel".

By excluding the relevant code unit, users attempting to use "Edit in Excel" will encounter an error, while still being able to use "Open in Excel".