Windows 10
After downloading update, restarting, and trying to open my first document, LibreOffice will not even open. Get the same message as above and the lock file.
I read a response suggesting that the ransomware protection be turned off, but that seems like a high price to pay to be able to use LibreOffice. Any other suggestions?
Anything special about the document? is it on a network share?
Mike, this error message appears for any and all word or spreadsheet documents I try to open. The docs are on my desktop that is not on a network share.
Well - then did you try the suggestion you mentioned (“that the ransomware protection be turned off”), to see if it is really the reason of the problem? (You also didn’t mention which protection you use, nor the source of the suggestion you are citing.) If it turns out that is the reason, nobody forces you to keep it disabled, but at least you would have something to mention here, to possibly find some other suggestions or explanations. Without that, we can only guess if this or that is the problem.
I had the same problem, I believe.
Turning off ransomeware protection as Controlled File Access may be the only answer.
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I updated Windows 10 recently, and I’m now using Version 1809, OS Build 17763.263.
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I found I now had problems with Excel 2007 which I had previously been using successfully, although I had had to log in as administrator to use it at all.
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I decided to give LibreOffice a try, and downloaded version 6.0.73 (x64). (Sorry, not v6.1.4)
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When I tried from LibreOffice to open an Excel spreadsheet which I had recently been using in Excel 2007, I got the message saying the file could not be locked. Title: “Document Could Not Be Locked”.
Msg: “The lock file could not be created for exclusive access by LibreOffice, due to missing permission to create a lock file on that file location or lack of free disk space.” Buttons: Open Read Only, and Cancel. -
Having searched this website for “permission” and then “locked” I eventually came across this thread and decided to try turning off Ransomware Protection.
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Windows key + I gets me to a Windows Settings window , and typing in Ransomware gets me to a Windows Security window titled Ransomware protection, with the first item “Controlled folder access”, which I had set to ON a long time ago.
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I changed it to OFF (admin privilege needed) and tried to open the same file from LibreOffice. Success! I closed it again.
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But I was not happy with Controlled folder access being OFF, so I set it back to ON.
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When I tried to open the same file from LibreOffice, I had no problem; I made a small change and tried to save it. However, I got an error pop-up titled Confirm File Format saying 'This document may contain formatting or content that cannot be saved in the currently selected file format “Microsoft Excel 97-2003”. Use the default ODF format to be sure that the document is saved correctly. [tickbox ticked] Ask when not saving in ODF or default format" and two buttons to choose between: “Use Microsoft Excel 97-2003 Format” and “Use ODF Format”. I chose the former, for backwards compatibility.
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Another pop-up, “Error”, “Error saving the document [filename]: General input/output error while accessing [path&filename].” OK button.
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Other Error pop-ups followed: one exactly the same and a fourth without the phrase ‘while accessing [path&filename].’
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This time I gave in and chose the ODF Format button, but the Save As dialogue pop-up told me: “[path&filename.ods] File not found. Check the filename and try again.”
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OK, so maybe it’s Ransomware setting, I thought. Set Controlled folder access back to OFF and try again.
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SUCCESS! I tried opening another file and saving it - successfully, but only in ODF (.ods) format.
I think I will try controlled file access ON but with exceptions for LibreOffice programs. Watch this space…
- I turned controlled file access ON but clicked on “Allow an app through controlled folder access”. There I allowed in LibreOffice\soffice.bin, that being the one relevant app listed by Windows Security that had recently been blocked. This time when I tried to open a file I was back to “Document Could Not Be Locked.”
- Still with access ON, I returned to the Ransomware protection page and clicked on “Protected folders”, thinking that I might earlier have prevented access to the folder (Documents) where the Excel file was. That was the case, so I clicked on Documents and removed it from the list of Protected folders. I could open and edit the Excel file, but not save it (several Error popups).
- I turned controlled file access OFF again. This time I was able to save the edited file, also to open an Excel file, edit it and save it, although each time I was again warned with “Confirm File Format”.
See Please don’t mix different issues (the problems accessing/saving files, which is this question is about, and warnings about using non-native file types, which is normal when you are saving to a foreign file format). Your description is too long and hard-to-understand already without any irrelevant stuff.