Member Avatar for hercules22

hi all plz read below carefully
All pc are connected in lan where one is win server wher i am sharing a file to give permission to a perticular user, structure is as follows
1)a)created one folder with name "test".b)shared with full permission for 10 user
c)under security tab clicked on advanced & unchecked allow inheritance.& added all the 10 users.

2)a)created another subfolder 'time' in "test".
b)under security again i followed step1 c but only with 5 users

3)finally i created one excel sheet in 'time' folder.b)under security in advanced i unchecked allow inheritance & given full permission to only user1.
now the problem i m facing is whenver user1 open that file frm his pc, edit & save. that time i checked security of that excel file on the server & it was showing full permission to all 5 users. please give me solution to avoid this file from access to all remaining users.

Thank You

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Dani AI

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This is a very common Windows/Office interaction rather than a mysterious permissions bug. As noted, copying the file back will produce the effect; even when a user “edits in place” many Office apps (Excel included) save by writing a temporary file and then replacing the original. The replacement is a brand‑new NTFS file and therefore inherits the parent folder ACLs — so any per‑file ACL you set earlier is lost.

Quick verification (run on the server immediately after the user saves):

dir /Q /T:C "D:\Share\time\*.xls"
cacls "D:\Share\time\yourfile.xls"

Look for a new Creation time and the folder ACEs appearing in the ACL. Also check for temporary files (names that start with ~$) in the same folder — that’s a sign Office used the temp‑and‑rename method.

Practical fixes (ordered by reliability)

  • Put the workbook in a small dedicated folder whose NTFS ACL allows only that user (and Administrators). New files inherit that folder’s ACL, so replacements stay restricted.
  • If the file must remain inside the shared folder, protect the workbook itself (Excel: Save As → Tools → General Options → password to open/modify, or use Protect Sheet/Workbook) to prevent editing by others.
  • If you need automation, reapply the desired ACLs via a script triggered after save (or run periodically). Also enable file auditing to see which account/process is creating the new file before automating changes.

Avoid relying on per‑file manual ACE edits for heavily edited Office files — they’re brittle because of the temp/rename save pattern. The simplest, most robust approach is folder‑level access control or Office-level protection.

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Member Avatar for HoustonIT

The user probably copied the file to his local pc, edited it, and then copied it back. When he put it back in the folder it inherited the 5 user permissions.

Member Avatar for hercules22

no no they are not copying on their local machine, they are accessing server folder &
editing & saving but as soon as they save permission are changing.

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