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Old Excel files cached on user's phones are overwriting the current file in Sharepoint.

365 Admin 0 Reputation points
2025-10-27T15:52:15.6033333+00:00

We have an Excel file that everyone in the company edits for their daily schedule. User's update it with where they're going to be at what time. For the past couple of weeks, when a mobile user opens the sheet, the cached image of that file will overwrite the current version on Sharepoint. We've been forced to manually roll back the file to the version before the overwrite every time this happens. When we roll back the file the mobile user is able to view it and edit it normally. We've had all affected users uninstall and reinstall the app to make sure they're on the most recent version, but the issue persists.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | iOS
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  1. Ian-Ng 6,215 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-10-27T18:31:48.44+00:00

    Hi @365 Admin, 

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

    Thank you for reaching out about the issue where your SharePoint Excel file is being overwritten by older versions from mobile devices. Specifically, the Excel mobile app is loading an old, cached (saved) version from the phone's memory instead of the live file from SharePoint. When a user saves a change, that old version overwrites the correct one on the server. 

    Therefore, I have detailed the recommended steps below. Kindly follow them and update me on the result, which will allow me to investigate further if the issue persists.

    Part 1: Take action for all mobile users 

    First, all mobile users who access this file should clear their Office app cache. This will remove the old, problematic file from their phones and force the app to download the correct version from SharePoint. 

    These instructions may have minor variations based on your specific Android device and operating system. 

    On Android: 

    1. Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps. 
    2. Find and tap on Excel. 
    3. Tap on Storage & cache. 
    4. Tap Clear cache. 
    5. Repeat these steps for the SharePoint and OneDrive apps as well. 

    On iPhone/iPad: 

    1. In settings, select apps 
    2. Scroll down and choose Excel application. 
    3. Scroll down and tap on Reset. 
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    4. Toggle the Clear All Workbooks option ON.  User's image
    5. Fully close and restart the Excel app. 

    Part 2: Limit sync for a SharePoint site for your SharePoint admin 

    In order to stop this from recurring, your SharePoint admin needs to change one setting on the specific document library where this Excel file is stored. 

    This change will force all mobile apps to load the live file directly from the server every time, instead of relying on a local cache. 

    1. In a web browser, navigate to the SharePoint document library that contains the Excel file. 
    2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner. 
    3. Click Library settings. 
    4. On the settings page, click Advanced settings. 
    5. Scroll down to the Offline and sync section. 
    6. Change the setting from "Yes" to "No".
    7. Scroll to the bottom and click OK. 

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.  

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.  

    I'm looking forward to your reply. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment."

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