Checking Out Synced SharePoint Files

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Paul1977

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#312612 1-May-2024 15:52

I'm new to SharePoint, and am struggling to find an answer to what I would have thought was a basic question...

We have a SharePoint library that requires documents to be checked out before they can be edited. We have users who sync this library via OneDrive to their PC so they can access the files in File Explorer. How can they check out a file from within File Explorer?

The only way I can find to check out a file is via the site in a web browser, but that somewhat defeats the purposes of syncing to OneDrive.

Am I missing something?

Dynamic

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#3225117 1-May-2024 16:17

We've not had this question, with no clients that I am aware of using the check in/out process.

I'm reading that checked out files sync to the computer as read-only, but there is no method of checking a file in or out from File Explorer. I half-expected to see a right-click menu item under the OneDrive options on the right-click menu, but nope. It seems like a very strange omission in functionality.

I can do some quick testing with a colleague when back in the office tomorrow if you've not had a chance to do so.

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#3225166 1-May-2024 18:29

@Paul1977 - Check the Info section once you open the document in Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

I seem to remember that the checkout functionality was visible there.

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nztim

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#3225168 1-May-2024 18:30

What type of files are these?

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Paul1977

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#3225171 1-May-2024 18:35

Dynamic:
We've not had this question, with no clients that I am aware of using the check in/out process.

I'm reading that checked out files sync to the computer as read-only, but there is no method of checking a file in or out from File Explorer. I half-expected to see a right-click menu item under the OneDrive options on the right-click menu, but nope. It seems like a very strange omission in functionality.

I can do some quick testing with a colleague when back in the office tomorrow if you've not had a chance to do so.

If you could it would be appreciated. Unless I’m blind there’s no option when right-clicking in File Explorer. And maybe I’m wording my searches poorly but I’m not finding others asking the same question. I found one post somewhere from 3 years ago asking, but it had no replies.

I’m quite new to SharePoint. Do most organisations not implement check in/out at all? I thought it seemed like a good idea for certain libraries and sites.

Paul1977

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#3225172 1-May-2024 18:38

ANglEAUT:
@Paul1977 - Check the Info section once you open the document in Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

I seem to remember that the checkout functionality was visible there.

Thanks, I’ll have a look at that. But I guess that would limit it to MS Office files.

Paul1977

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#3225185 1-May-2024 19:14

nztim:
What type of files are these?

Mainly Word, Excel, and PDF.

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lxsw20

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#3225223 1-May-2024 21:13

Paul1977:I’m quite new to SharePoint. Do most organisations not implement check in/out at all? I thought it seemed like a good idea for certain libraries and sites.

I've seen it used once is one specific use case, and it was a PITA to administrate with having to unlock files when people went home for the day etc.

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#3225351 1-May-2024 23:29

Paul1977: ... But I guess that would limit it to MS Office files.

🤔 Welcome to the walled garden of Microsoft 🤔

lxsw20: ... it was a PITA to administrate with having to unlock files ...

Agreed. You only want to enable check in/out functionality for files where that versioning is really important. You don't want to enable this for every file in every library.

[Mod edit (MF) fixed company spelling]

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Paul1977

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#3225434 2-May-2024 09:43

So it's available from with the MS apps but apparently not File Explorer. What a terrible way to do it, do Microsoft really think that people only work with Microsoft documents in Microsoft apps?

Sounds like there will be very limited scenarios where we'll want to consider using check in/out if it's use and administration is so problematic.

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#3225445 2-May-2024 11:04

Paul1977: ... But I guess that would limit it to MS Office files.

Paul1977: ... What a terrible way to do it, do Microsoft really think that people only work with Microsoft documents in Microsoft apps? ...

🤔 Welcome to the walled garden of Microsoft 🤔

[Mod edit (MF) fixed company spelling]

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lxsw20

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#3225465 2-May-2024 11:26

What document types are you attempting to check in/out?

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#3225509 2-May-2024 13:56

lxsw20:

I've seen it used once is one specific use case, and it was a PITA to administrate with having to unlock files when people went home for the day etc.

I once worked at a place which had check-out enabled by default on Sharepoint files... Not fun when people would go on holiday with files checked out, and getting assistance from IT was impossible (~5000 employee organisation).

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BlakJak

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#3229108 11-May-2024 18:20

I only use check-out these days when I want to guarantee that no one else will edit the file.

Collaborative Editing is one of the biggest wins to the use of SharePoint, which checking the file out would seem to defeat... ??

I generally don't presume that i'll be able to do offline editing of files that're explicitly in an online datastore. In which case check-out would be smart (prevent you trying to sync conflicting changes later).

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