1. Save your work immediately and quit all running programs. I would suggest you open a ticket with Microsoft I have seen cases where MOSS (SharePoint) 2007SP1 (using sql server 2005)says the document is checked out by someone else, even though that person denies ever checking out the document. solution for this - possibly in login scripts? they put a HOSTS entry that points thedomain name for ourSharePoint siteto How to Edit A Protected Word Document without Password. You can connect with John on LinkedIn. Both of these situations can be highly frustrating especially when you really need to edit the document. Due to the limited feature set, Office Web Apps rarely works as an enterprise-wide Web client is a windows service active on each client. Strange thing is on my end, that this only occurs in lists where users have a "Contribute" permission set. In a world where businesses are embracing technology more than ever, it's essential you understand the tech you're using. which WFE was serving the user. Users cannot modify the document during the time when the document is locked. The networked request from Office to SharePoint to lock/unlock Open Windows Explorer. About iMyFone So in our case Win XP and Office 2007 do have this issue. It releases the lock. Has it been confirmed that this does not happen with SP 2010 or with specific Office and SP edition combinations? http://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/jinchun%20chen/ had just demoed me the issue in Windows Explorer View, and referred me to the SPFile.Lock, SPFile.LockType, SPFile.ReleaseLock. Then delete the old file. Any help would be greatly appreciated. In the Task Manager Warning dialog box, click Yes. The user stated left the company a long time ago, but in my experience it is not that unusual for Excel/Word to report the incorrect user. We have similar issues. I have seen the above. Want in on insightful videos, the latest tech developments, and epic exclusive content? how to lock a word document from editing - Mechanicaleng blog Office web applications can be implemented with SharePoint 2010. I have looked into and tried everything on this post and have a case open with Microsoft. File is locked for editing by 'me' issue I am the only one who uses the computer and the file is stored locally and NOT on a server. then I hit "notify" and waited, after a couple minutes finally got a message sayingread/write is available. Follow the steps below to try resolve this issue: Step 1) Save all your work/files on word that you currently have open, Step 2) Quit all programmes so that you have none open, Step 3) Open the Windows Security Dialog Box by clicking Ctrl, Alt, Delete, Step 4) Choose the Task Manager selection, Step 5) Choose More Details at the bottom of the box, Step 7) Scroll until you find winword.exe, Step 8) Select winword.exe and then press end task, Step 10) Find the document file you were trying to open, Step 11) Locate the owner file (This is in the same folder with same name but the first two letters are replaced with ~$. again, the file showed as locked by "Me". Because of this Office 2003 does not have the proper there doesn't seem to be a solution for this problem, and Microsoft seems to ignore that this is a bug in their system. I woulddive intoAppFabric Distributed Caching in SharePoint 2013 first. I can confirm that this bug (which it simply is) is still alive in SharePoint 2010 We're running SharePoint 2010 together with Office 2003 on some pc's and Office 2007 on other pc's (we're in the middle of upgrading all PC's). In this case, you need to stop the protection so that you can edit the document. Has it been confirmed that this does not happen with SP 2010 or with specific Office and SP edition combinations? Deleting the document from this folder has solved the issue for me. "The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when if the file resides on another computer: 1. r-click on Computer or My Computer and select Manage. If you have similar problems with a pre-SP 2010 product, please start a new thread. ! Was this reply helpful? There's a search bar under one of the sections (my Windows is in Spanish, but the loose translation will be "associate identifiers") 1)Navigate to the shared path on the file server. after 10 minutes the file was still checked out and I couldn't understand why. If you know the password used to restrict the Word document, it will be easy to remove the restriction and edit the locked document. The issue here is the version of Office that you are using. Turn off the Details Pane in Windows Explorer. I can view the information with .net reflector and PowerShell. session cookie along with the HTTP response from the SharePoint WFE. So the root cause of my issue here was that as I understand it, MSWord and SharePoint don't pass credentials between one-another. Bypass layers until you find the culprit and then "Excel File Locked for Editing by Me" Error & Solutions The latest is that if these users don't go through the load balancer (i.e. How to fix a Word Document locked for editing: Weve also created a video to help guide you through the steps: Proofread your Word document to fix style and consistency! We had been using cookie-based load balancing. Tip: Sometimes a file may get locked if everyone editing isn't using a version that . That's why we've retired SharePoint. Open 'Read-Only' or click 'Notify' to open read-only and receive notification when the document is no longer in use. If after restore of files, they are "locked," just go to Start >Ctrl Pnl >enter into search field upper right in window: "Folder Options" >select "View" tab >see list . We're facing this bug in a document library that doesn't require checkout/approval, so a default out But I'm unsure of the standard lifespan of cached credentials in Credentials Manager. If you find any tmp files, then pls delete those tmp files and then try to open this word file. If you have locked the file yourself, it might be because the file is open on a different device, or the previous instance of the file didn't close properly. Just within seconds, the restrictions will be removed. Checking out the document, then checking in, doesn't solve the problem 2.3 Edit Locked Word Document by Using Password Unlocker. box plainWeb Application. This becomes confusing to the user, as if they are logged into SharePoint as User A, but User B is stored in the Credential Manager, SharePoint will lock the file as User A then MSWord loads as User B and Any ideas?Other details:- SharePoint servers (1 front-end, 1 query, 1 indexing) are all Windows 2003 Server- SQL Server 2008 on database server- Clients are mostly Windows XP- Our versioning model is:--- Content approval: not required--- Document Version History: Create major versions--- Require Check Out: No. by 'username'. It is not uncommon to find some restrictions on Word documents. Step 2 Upload the password-protected Excel file to the software by clicking the "Select a File" button. It might happen the first time you go to edit your checked out doc, or the 10th. don't understand the difference - Two, they just want to get their work done. Open the file you want to lock for editing. Apr 04 2017 10:01 AM Cannot Release Lock on SharePoint Online File SharePoint thinks a user still has a lock on. 2)Select "show hidden files". Excel is Awesome! hundreds of instances of it happening on diverse computers, from Windows XP to Windows 2008 Server, and two high-quality, certified Microsoft partners have tried to fix the problem unsuccessfully. The cookie identified to the load balancer So the issue is not the version of Office. 2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Windows Security dialog box. hundreds of instances of it happening on diverse computers, from Windows XP to Windows 2008 Server, and two high-quality, certified Microsoft partners have tried to fix the problem unsuccessfully. To work around this behavior, wait 10 minutes before opening the document again. Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, Un-Check Hide protected operating system files (Recommended), and then click OK. You should see that file in the same directory the . License Agreement No. Step 3. Because of this Office 2003 does not have the proper Run Task Manager and select the Process tab. I am using Excel 2010 on Win 7 and it seems that many users have the same problem. A router? http://blogs.officezealot.com/legault/archive/2006/03/31/9546.aspx, http://yagyashree.wordpress.com/event-id-8214-object-reference-not-set-to-an-instance-of-an-object/, http://wssv4faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx, http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx, http://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/jinchun%20chen/, http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/d2ee01/sharepoint-2010-internals-%E2%80%93-series-2/. The issue here is the version of Office that you are using. Every time you try to edit the document, it will tell you that "This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked". In this new environment we'll be using a load balancer, so at least now we know that this may cause problems. So it has nothing to do with an Office version that was not build for SharePoint. The write lock times out after 10 minutes. a "Open document as another user" menu item in Word :). That is what they always think of us, geniuses! Right-click the document locked by editing restriction, and select open with WordPad. If it does, I'll ask our infrastructure guys to monitor the network traffic to identify possible causes. I can view the information with .net reflector and PowerShell. WE have the exact same issue described by dbturtle in our organisation with a single WFE. 2: Place the cursor at the position where you need to split the text into 2 parts: the lock part and unlock part. You can open the Word document without receiving any pop-up if it's protected by editing restrictions. Unfortunately we have a manager that is blind for all the extra trouble that SharePoint brings into an organisation only because it looks so fancy, so I have to deal with it someway and chances are low that we can manage to abandon SharePoint for good. 100% Reliable: Many professional websites such as 9TO5Mac, PCWorld, Techradar have recommended the developer of Passper, so it is totally safe to use Passper tools. We had been using cookie-based load balancing. I am and cannot seem to solve. The next time you have a locked Word document to edit and don't know what to do, consider the above solutions. In Word, you go to Word Options, Save, Offline editing options for document management. If you have similar problems with a SP 2010 product please look for a SP 2010 forum to post to. I understand you have already opened a case however the OCSI team should be able to take a deeper look as to what is the possible cause. When we try to open the excel file directly from Excel (navigating to the SharePoint location), we get the message that the file is locked for editing by 'another user'. If not then you know it is not a client side problem. I can confirm that this bug (which it simply is) is still alive in SharePoint 2010 We're running SharePoint 2010 together with Office 2003 on some pc's and Office 2007 on other pc's (we're in the middle of upgrading all PC's). Others were: all documents suddenly becoming read-only for an individual user, invalid "last modified" times, documents that enter a Web client is a windows service active on each client. In our case: I need to test this further to confirm, but appears to be the case. Fix 1 - Quit All Instance of Word Step 1. 1 Answer. This eliminates the save to the drafts folder on your computer, which we've found tends to cause the most issues. To unlock a file, there are a few things that you can try. Step 3: While the file is added to Passper for Word, click on "Remove" and the restrictions will be lifted in a few moments. Documents becoming "locked for editing" by self, when no other edits are happening, SharePoint Legacy Versions - Setup, Upgrade, Administration and Operations. If your document that you are trying to open is on a shared network the problem could be someone else already having the file open. Perhaps it was not configured properly initially? This is because when a document is opened by a client program, Windows SharePoint Services puts a write lock on the document on the server. Every machine has it's own Office installation. Learn how to use the Microsoft Teams virtual whiteboard to boost your team's productivity and creativity. Our solution, unfortunately,has been to get rid of SharePoint. Thank you Xue-Mei: Let me see if I understand this correctly. don't understand the difference - Two, they just want to get their work done. Business Tech Planet is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. This has been going on for almost a day. Would also be good in this case to have Users cannot modify the document during the time when the document is locked. - SharePoint 2010 Enterprise (14.0.4763.1000)with 2 WFE, running on Win 2008 and SQL 2008 (clustered) - all 64 bit A load balancer? Strange thing is on my end, that this only occurs in lists where users have a "Contribute" permission set. - SharePoint 2010 Enterprise (14.0.4763.1000)with 2 WFE, running on Win 2008 and SQL 2008 (clustered) - all 64 bit There is a way to stop attachments from emails automatically opening in reading view. The Details Pane gathers information about the file and while doing so, puts a "lock" on it. SharePoint is not even able to work with that, so we're not planning to bring in more problems by implementing web apps. , 2.2 Unlock Word Document for Editing via WordPad, 2.3 Edit Locked Word Document by Using Password Unlocker, 2.4 Edit Protected Word Document by Changing File Extension, 2.5 Unprotect Word Document for Editing by Setting to Rich-Text-Format. I understand that most of you are having this issue and I feel for you. Another suggestion I have is to create a new out of the This becomes confusing to the user, as if they are logged into SharePoint as User A, but User B is stored in the Credential Manager, SharePoint will lock the file as User A then MSWord loads as User B and How to excel file locked for Editing by Me - WPS Office Another Proxy? We're facing it on both Office 2003 and 2007. ), Step 14) If you are asked if you want to load the changes that were made to the global or normal template select no. Open your word file and go to the Review tab in the Word ribbon. Are you using Office 2003 or Office 2007? The latest is that if these users don't go through the load balancer (i.e. If removing the owner file did not work then there is a chance there are still some other temporary files that need to be found and deleted for you to be able to edit your document. I think this KB article can help you: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899709. troubleshoot the culprit. Deleting the temporary files is safe and nothing will be lost. 2.1 Edit Locked Word Document by Saving as A New File In this case, the locking problem was only one of a dozen serious problems we experienced. Step 2) Locate the file which you want to edit, Step 5) Make sure read-only is not ticked. The "Save as" window will appear. But this meothod will not work if your Word document is protected with a Password to modify. From my experience with this error 99% of the time the problem is caused by a network problem and I understand that most of you are having this issue and I feel for you. After testing I have found that users that have Approve or higher permission sets are able to open the document without error. Office web applications can be implemented with SharePoint 2010. link to Microsoft Teams Virtual Whiteboard, link to Microsoft Teams chat and messaging. This means if there is a previously stored credential in Windows Credential Manager (I have Win7 here), MSWord will try Go to Computer Management -> System Tools -> Shared Folders -> Open Files to find out who has a document locked. Has anyone fixed this? At the same time, you may also get a locked Word document. But again, this is a solution for one particular client and not all of them. We have always been using Office 2007 (and MOSS 2007). after 10 minutes the file was still checked out and I couldn't understand why. You would need to check the drafts folder of the other user to check if the document is present? They don't know how we always do it, we always did it, solve it! We also had this same issue but was resolved in a different way. Method 5: Prevent email attachments opening in read view. I'm working with our Network Admin to see if he knows any reason this This would ensure that when you authenitecicated to one of the load balanced nodes you would continue to use this node until Are you using Office 2003 or Office 2007? Step 2: Use the "Select a File" option to add the protected Word file into the program. However, it's a real hum-dinger from a testing / demos point of view. Now, open the .rtf file with MS Word program. The write lock times out after 10 minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 1: Open your Word file. What lies between the client and SharePoint? User Jones opens and edits the same document. I have looked into and tried everything on this post and have a case open with Microsoft. I understand your frustration. Behind our back as we walk past, they'll say, "That's the crazy dude who supports that crazy apphe's genius!". I am the original poster of this thread. Then, you can see a "Stop protection" button in the lower right corner. And you can edit and save the file without any restrictions now. we have the prob with Windows 2003 servers and XP PC's. If your clients are running Office 2003 then your. Clients with XP and Office 2003/2007 DO NOT have this issue. This is a real, intermittent problem. So the root cause of my issue here was that as I understand it, MSWord and SharePoint don't pass credentials between one-another. We've captured a few Fiddler sessions whereby the UNLOCK request fails to get a response when going through the load balancer, but I've also seen cases where LOCK and OPTIONS fail (OPTIONS typically fails as "unauthorized"), the end of the session We are using SP 2007 and Office 2003. In this section, you will find several solutions to this problem. If nothing else, you mayat least see that the traffic is all clear and can scratch my solution off your list. An owner file is temporary and holds the logon name of the person who opens the document. Click Task Manager, and then click the Processes tab. document library should not be set to required checkout. our other large, installed systems typically run for months without a single problem, and with very small support staff. Even though you have a single WFE, I would still recommend inspecting the network traffic. In our case: http://yagyashree.wordpress.com/event-id-8214-object-reference-not-set-to-an-instance-of-an-object/. Here, locate a file named "settings.xml" and delete it. We are finding that the users having this problem are on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008. - Clients: Win XP Professional Version 2002SP3and Office 2007 (12.0.6514.5000) SP2 MSO(all 32bit). To work around this behavior, wait 10 minutes before opening the document again. User Smith gets angry and stops trusting SharePoint. On our SharePoint 2007 SP1 farm, intermittently, when a useropens a Microsoft Office document (usually Excel)for editing by single-clicking its name in IE,the following error dialog mysteriously occurs when Office opens:File in Usemyfile.xlsm is locked for editing by 'domainname\yourname'Open 'Read-Only' or click 'Notify' to open read-only and receive notificationwhen the document is no longer in use.The problem is, nobody else is editing this document, and the identified user ('domainname\yourname') is the name of the current user (the person opening the document right now)!This is not "user error", e.g., the same user editing the file from two different computers, or the file being checked out. By default, this is located in: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO. Welcome, business minds! They don't know how we always do it, we always did it, solve it! The write lock times out after 10 minutes. We have discovered, however, that. How to Unlock a File in SharePoint Online (Release Lock) Microsoft Excel didn't close properly, and the owner file wasn't erased. may be (who knows; maybe he's blocked those types of http requests for some crazy reason!). Then open the new .rtf file with Notepad. The program is easy to use and will save you a lot of time when you've lost or forgotten your password. You will see a "Tools" tab in the lower right corner. I checked the Drafts folder but the file is not there, so that didn't help either. Share. In Word, you go to Word Options, Save, Offline editing options for document management. Step 1: Install Passper for Word to your computer and then launch the program. In this scenario, the F5 load balancer tacked on a If you do not want to receive this pop-up next time, following steps will help you remove this protection. In some cases when i have run into this problem, I have found that SharePoint stores a copy of the document in the SharePoint drafts folder. says that User A has it locked (*DOH!*). We're facing this bug in a document library that doesn't require checkout/approval, so a default out of the box Waiting for 10 minutes doesn't solve the problem We don't use Office Web Apps, would be pointless since every user has Office on his PC, and SharePoint is only accessible from these PCs. So, after discovering that our locking issue did not occur when we bypassed the load balancer, we talked with our network admin in charge of the F5 device. User Smith keeps the document open and continues editing. There are several reasons why a Word document might be locked for editing. only gets a blank screen - excel does not start up. To the best of my knowledge, this timeout is a documented feature. Bypass layers until you find the culprit and then When I open the Excel file, I get a message saying that the file is locked for editing by 'my name'. there doesn't seem to be a solution for this problem, and Microsoft seems to ignore that this is a bug in their system. Thanks for your suggestions. We're facing it on both Office 2003 and 2007. Checking out the document, then checking in, doesn't solve the problem I'm always mentioned as the person locked the document for editing, even though I'm not the person who for example opened the document at first. session cookie along with the HTTP response from the SharePoint WFE. How to Edit a Locked Word Document - Passper