There is a quiet frustration in the question you asked, and it is entirely justified. When you take the time to configure external sharing permissions for an Excel file, the last thing you expect is for the application to silently override your choices every time you hit save. The user who posted this is not asking for a workaround; they are asking for consistency, for the tool to respect the access they have deliberately set. That is a reasonable expectation, and it points to a larger truth about how we manage data today: security settings are not a suggestion box, they are a commitment.
The practical issue here is that Excel, like many productivity tools, has its own ideas about what your sharing permissions should be, especially when files live in a cloud environment or are synced across devices. The user wants a specific configuration, one that keeps external collaborators in the loop, but the application keeps reverting to a more restrictive default. This is not a user error, and it is not a lack of technical skill. It is a design choice that prioritizes caution over convenience, often at the expense of the very collaboration the tool is meant to enable. For anyone who has spent time managing access for clients, vendors, or partners, this feels less like a feature and more like a roadblock.
What this means for you, the person dealing with this right now, is that you need to treat Excel's permission settings as part of your workflow, not as a one-time setup. Check the sharing settings immediately after saving, and be prepared to reapply them if necessary. But more importantly, consider whether the file is being stored in a location that allows Excel to override your choices. If you are syncing through a service that has its own permission layer, that is often where the conflict begins. The solution is not to fight the tool blindly, but to understand where the override is coming from. Look at the file's properties, the sharing dialog, and the sync status. If you can isolate the step that triggers the reset, you can build a routine around it.
The deeper takeaway is that external sharing is not a set-and-forget activity. It requires vigilance, and that is an uncomfortable truth for those of us who want to focus on the work, not the plumbing. But the alternative, losing access for people who depend on the file, is worse. So be deliberate. After every save, verify the permissions. If the problem persists, explore whether the file is being reverted by a policy set at the organizational level, not by Excel itself. That distinction matters because it changes the fix. The user deserves a tool that works with them, not against them, but until that day comes, the power is in the routine you build, not the hope that the software will behave.