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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / How to allow "Open in ...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"

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Posted on by TH-06051442-0 10
Using D365 version 22.3.58346.58475 and it appears that there is not a simple way to allow a user to OPEN in excel but NOT EDIT.
 
I have tested with the EDIT IN EXCEL - VIEW permission set and it's all or nothing, you get both options (open and edit) or none without it.
 
There is another forum article that seems to imply that the EXCEL EXPORT ACTION may be the right permission set but it actually includes the EDIT IN EXCEL - VIEW set. https://community.dynamics.com/forums/thread/details/?threadid=1e7e2d09-c324-4c87-916a-8823ab281cca
 
What am I missing here?  Seems like I wouldn't be the only one to want such an option?
Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • CU05050811-0 Profile Picture
    CU05050811-0 2 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"

    It appears you're encountering a challenge with Microsoft Dynamics 365 here is version 22.3.58346.58475 where there isn't a straightforward method to allow users to open Excel files without granting them editing permissions. You've tested the "EDIT IN EXCEL - VIEW" permission set, but it seems to only offer an all-or-nothing solution, providing both open and edit permissions or none at all.

    You've come across a forum thread that suggests the "EXCEL EXPORT ACTION" permission set might be suitable, but upon testing, you've found that it also includes the "EDIT IN EXCEL - VIEW" set, thus not meeting your requirements.

  • TH-06051442-0 Profile Picture
    TH-06051442-0 10 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    ZHU, I think I found it...I am using security groups with multiple permission sets within.  I went through one by one and found codeunit 1488 included in the "D365 Basic" permission set.  I really only included this set because I couldn't figure out the minimum perms needed to just login and I thought this was the one.  Apparently, it's too permissive for what I would like...I tried the LOGIN one and still get errors on login, I also have AUTOMATE - EXEC and LOCAL.  Do you have any documentation on this piece?  My google skills are failing me in all things BC but now that I found this forum...maybe I can find the answer to this as well!  Again, I appreciate you taking the time to help me!!
  • Suggested answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 77,925 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    When using the exclude function, remember not to assign other permissions, because the system will fetch the collection.
    For example my test:
     
    Hope this helps.
    Thanks.
    ZHU
  • TH-06051442-0 Profile Picture
    TH-06051442-0 10 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    SimeonW, I also found this one that I voted for...
     
     
  • SimeonW Profile Picture
    SimeonW 126 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
  • TH-06051442-0 Profile Picture
    TH-06051442-0 10 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    Thanks ZHU for taking the time to create a blog entry just for my question, I really appreciate it!!
     
    I would like to use the first method with perms but no matter how I setup my new permission set (copy...by reference/flat/clone) and exclude the code unit 1488, it doesn't produce the results that you documented.  I have found permissions to take affect right away, I can get the "open in excel" and "edit in excel" options to show up/not show up by just refreshing the page after changes.  Am I not waiting long enough?
     
    Any other thoughts on what I may not be doing correctly?
     
    Inge, thanks for the info! I will register the idea and the reasoning behind it is we are concerned about user error making changes to BC that weren't intended.
  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 77,925 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    Hi, hope the following helps.
    Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to allow Open in Excel but not Edit in Excel (Prohibit the use of Edit in Excel)
     
     
    Thanks
    ZHU
  • Suggested answer
    Inge M. Bruvik Profile Picture
    Inge M. Bruvik 997 Moderator on at
    How to allow "Open in Excel" but not "Edit in Excel"
    Maybe not 100% what you are looking for but to use the centralized deployment of the Excel-AddIn might help you.
     
    And you can always register an idea to suggest a more granular way to control these permissions.
     
     
    What is the reasoning behind giving a user permission to modify data but not allowing it to happen through Excel?
     

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