File on MicroSD card are read only

[jpintn]

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7: I have a 32 GB Samsung MicroSD card installed. I can copy files to the card with no problem. I can delete files with no issues. The problem is with Excel and Word files saved to the SD card. These files become read only once moved to the card. If I move the files to the device they are no longer read only. So I cannot edit and save these files from the card. Before someone suggest checking the lock on the card, that is not the problem. The lock only applies when the card is inserted into the adapter to be used in a card reader. The actual MicroSD card, once removed from the adapter, is always unlocked. I have also changed the attributes of the card and that does not work. So presently if I want to edit an Excel or Word file on the tablet I have to move it to the device, edit, and save, and then move it back to the SD card where it once again becomes read only. Has anyone experience this and been able to correct the issue?

UPDATE: This is interesting. When I open Excel or Word files by going to App>My Files and tapping on the SD Card, tapping a file to open it, it is read-only. When I go to Apps>Microsoft Products>Excel and open the same file from Excel it is NOT read-only. Both are accessing the file from the microSD card. This applies for Word as well.

 

[treetopsranch]

Odd problem. At least you can save your Excel and Word files. On my tablet it won't let save or print those files until I pony up for a subscription fee.

 

[Rukbat]

If they're opening in Excel and/or Word in the first case, I'm stumped, since either way of opening them in Excel or Word results in the same thing. If you have Polaris installed in the phone, and they're opening in Polaris in the first case, that's the problem. And since you can't easily change file associations in a phone, I'd suggest disabling or freezing Polaris. It''s caused a lot of problems like these. (If you can change the file association to Word and Excel, that's the easiest and proper solution.)

 

[jpintn]

It is not a phone. It is a Galaxy Tab A tablet. Polaris is not installed. When I open an Excel file by tapping SD Card and tapping the file the Excel program opens and then opens the file but it is read-only. When I open Excel from Apps menu and the browse to the file and open it, it is NOT read-only and can be edited. The same happens with Word files.

 

[jpintn]

My Galaxy Tab A 9.7 came with the software. I had to activate it with Microsoft. I purchased the table in early March.

 

[jrisch]

I think the process is a bit more complicated. I've tried a couple of tests on my Note 5 (which doesn't have an SD card) and my Tab A (which does). On my Note 5 it works as you describe, if I try to open from a file explorer it opens as read-only. If I open from Excel then it opens with full access. On the Tab A's SD card, it depends where the file is located. If you try to create it in Excel and save it to the SD card, you'll find it saves in SD card > Android > data > com.microsoft.office.excel > files > Documents. This is because the Excel app "owns" that area on the SD card. Files there are OK to open full access. However, move the file to a different location on the SD card, and it opens in Read-Only mode whether from Excel or from the file explorer.

This doesn't match your experience but is as expected. Starting with KitKat Google imposed quite severe restrictions on how SD cards could be used by a new Storage Access Framework. These restrictions were relaxed to a degree in Lollipop but not completely. It was designed to make SD cards more secure in their usage and avoid rogue apps changing data owned by other apps.

Don't know if this helps too much.

 

[jpintn]

Thank you. This is perfect. I was able to pull up the files and then create a short cut...one for Excel and one for Word. These allow me to go directly to the files and then they can be edited.

 

[jpintn]

[SOLVED] File on MicroSD card are read only

Issue has been solved.

 

[jpintn]

[SOLVED] File on MicroSD card are read only

How do I add solved to my original post title???

 

[Brew Swayne]

I don't believe thread titles can be edited. Maybe a mod can do that?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Abbas Faiq]

Re: [SOLVED] File on MicroSD card are read only

Hi - I am having exactly the same issue on Samsung Galaxy Tab A. Is your final solution to create a shortcut for every Excel, Word and Powerpoint file on the SD card? I have replicated my entire OneDrive folder to the SD card (several hundred files). It will be pretty tiresome to create this many shortcuts....

 

[Haikal Mahyidin]

Re: [SOLVED] File on MicroSD card are read only

Hi - I am having exactly the same issue on Samsung Galaxy Tab A. Is your final solution to create a shortcut for every Excel, Word and Powerpoint file on the SD card? I have replicated my entire OneDrive folder to the SD card (several hundred files). It will be pretty tiresome to create this many shortcuts....

I think the easiest solution is to just access the documents from excel or words itself.

 

[Doncankook]

That sounds like Microsoft: they will let you view files for free, but you need to PAY to be able to edit them. They did the same with Works; you can edit .doc files on your desktop PC, but they aren't "compatible" with MS Word.