In partnership with
If you’ve got 2 minutes, please give us your view by filling in our survey. This helps us create content YOU love.
Hey! It’s Jack.
Collaborating using Excel is easier than ever — gone are the days of files with titles like Final_Version_3(ReallyFinal).xlsx — providing you’re using Excel’s sharing features the right way! In this week’s edition, we’re explaining how to use Excel’s real-time co-authoring, sharing, and data protection tools.
In this edition of On The Pulse:
Collaborating on Excel files — without the headaches!
Apple’s big announcement TODAY
China’s Monkey King
Table of Contents
Let’s get started!
There’s a reason 400,000 professionals read this daily.
Join The AI Report, trusted by 400,000+ professionals at Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Get daily insights, tools, and strategies to master practical AI skills that drive results.
🔍 FAVOURITE FINDS
📰 News
The OnePlus Watch 3 is making waves with an impressive five-day battery life, a huge leap over competitors like the Apple Watch, which still struggles to last beyond a day without restrictions. Thanks to its new silicon-carbon battery technology and dual-chip architecture, the OnePlus Watch 3 balances smart features with power efficiency, eliminating the frustration of constantly recharging. At $330, it offers full access to Wear OS 5 without the usual battery trade-offs, making it an exciting option for smartwatch users. This is a game-changer — battery life has been the Achilles’ heel of smartwatches for years, and OnePlus might have just cracked the code.
China has unveiled its latest supersonic drone, the Monkey King, which aims to reach Mach 4 — twice the speed of Concorde — while flying at an altitude of 12.4 miles. Developed by Lingkong Tianxing Technology, the seven-metre UAV is powered by detonation engines and is part of a broader effort to develop high-speed passenger jets, with a commercial aircraft based on this tech expected by 2030. Honestly, while the prospect of supersonic passenger flights is exciting, given the fate of Concorde, the real challenge will be making it commercially viable and addressing concerns over cost, safety, and environmental impact.
Apple is set to announce a new product on February 19, with the iPhone SE 4 widely expected to take centre stage. This long-awaited budget-friendly iPhone will bring a major design overhaul inspired by the iPhone 14, featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a 48MP camera, and USB-C charging — all at a lower price point. Other potential announcements include a new M4 MacBook Air with better performance and battery life, minor iPad updates, and possibly a HomePad smart display for home automation. Apple is also expected to release iOS 18.4, bringing powerful AI-driven Siri enhancements. Personally, while the iPhone SE 4 might not be the flashiest release, its upgraded features at a lower price could make it a huge hit, especially for those who don’t need or want a high-end flagship.
✨ DEEP DIVE
This isn’t traditional business news
Welcome to Morning Brew—the free newsletter designed to keep you in the know on the business news impacting your career, company, and life—in a way you didn’t know you needed.
Note: this isn’t traditional business news. Morning Brew’s approach cuts through the noise and bore of classic business media, opting for short writeups, witty jokes, and above all—presenting the facts.
Save time, actually enjoy business news, and join over 4 million professionals reading daily.
💯 Work together in Excel without the headaches
Excel isn’t just for solo number-crunching—it’s a powerful tool for collaboration too.
Whether you’re working on reports, budgets, or project plans, Excel’s real-time co-authoring, sharing options, and data protection tools make teamwork smoother.
This week, we’re covering how to collaborate, share, and secure your spreadsheets so you can work smarter (without version control nightmares).
Real-time co-authoring
Tired of emailing Excel files back and forth? Co-authoring lets multiple people work on the same spreadsheet at the same time, with instant updates.
🔹 How to enable real-time collaboration:
1. Save your Excel file to OneDrive or SharePoint.
2. Click Share (top-right corner).
3. Enter email addresses or copy the link.
4. Choose “Can Edit” to allow others to make changes.
What happens next?
• Each user’s changes appear live—no waiting or refreshing.
• Coloured cursors show who’s working on which section.
• You can leave comments to ask questions or assign tasks.
📌 Tip: Use @mentions in comments to tag teammates and send them a notification.
Sharing and permissions
Not everyone needs full editing access. Excel lets you control who can view, edit, or comment on your spreadsheet.
👥 How to adjust permissions:
1. Click Share and select Link Settings.
2. Choose who can access the file:
• Anyone with the link (useful for public sharing).
• People in your organisation (for internal use).
• Specific people (for controlled access).
3. Set permissions:
• Can Edit – Full access to make changes.
• Can View – Read-only mode.
• Can Comment – Leave feedback without editing.
📌 Tip: If you’re sharing sensitive data, disable “Anyone with the link” to prevent unauthorised access.
Protecting data you DON’T want people to edit
If you want to prevent accidental edits, Excel allows you to lock parts of your spreadsheet while still letting others make updates where needed.
🔐 How to lock a sheet:
1. Go to Review > Protect Sheet.
2. Set a password (optional).
3. Choose what users can and can’t do (e.g., allow sorting but block editing).
🔐 How to lock specific cells:
1. Select the cells you want to remain editable.
2. Press Ctrl + 1 and go to the Protection tab.
3. Untick “Locked” and click OK.
4. Now protect the sheet as above—only the locked cells will be restricted.
📌 Tip: If sharing within a team, create a “View Only” sheet with formulas locked, so users can see the data but not break calculations.
With real-time editing, smart sharing controls, and built-in data protection, Excel makes teamwork easier, faster, and more secure. No more version mix-ups, accidental overwrites, or lost data.
Try these collaboration tools today, and let us know — what’s the funniest file name you’ve ended up with after sharing files back and forth?! 🚀
✅ WRAPPING UP!
That’s all for this edition of On The Pulse.
Thanks for reading and see you soon! 👋