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Try the File locking Dropbox feature.

Trinity2019

Can you explain the the File Locking system through the early access program so we won't have conflicting versions? We would like to know how this feature works and if it is right for us.

Thank You

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Fiona

Thanks for joining Community @Trinity2019.

I am so excited to talk about the "File locking" Early Access Business feature!

You can now lock a file that is contained in a shared folder. This way you can prevent people from editing the file, even if you have given them edit rights on the folder.

Locked files have a lock icon on them but can be viewed by all collaborators of the folder.

Only the one that locked the file or the admin signed in as the user, will be able to edit this file until it is unlocked.

I think this is going to be very useful. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

All comments

Fiona

Thanks for joining Community @Trinity2019.

I am so excited to talk about the "File locking" Early Access Business feature!

You can now lock a file that is contained in a shared folder. This way you can prevent people from editing the file, even if you have given them edit rights on the folder.

Locked files have a lock icon on them but can be viewed by all collaborators of the folder.

Only the one that locked the file or the admin signed in as the user, will be able to edit this file until it is unlocked.

I think this is going to be very useful. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

Brian B.39

Is this file locking mechanism automatic or do we have to right click and lock/unlock the file?

Rich

It's a manual process.

Fiona

How to lock or unlock a Dropbox file.

s_l_h

Hi Fiona, you mention 'early access' - is this just limited to some business accounts currently? If so, when will it be released to all accounts?

Thank you

Rich

@s_l_h wrote:
Hi Fiona, you mention 'early access' - is this just limited to some business accounts currently?

Team Admins can enable the feature on the Early Access page within Settings in their Admin console.

s_l_h

Thank you!

JT-EE

Hello,

I'm an admin on my company's business account, and I don't see 'File Locking' listed under the 'Early Access' options. When and how can I enable File Locking?

Thanks!

Fiona

Hello @JT-EE. Thanks for reporting.

I emailed you to look into this for you.

Get back to me there and I will be able to see what is going on with your Early releases.

Thank you!

JulianCHBS

Hi @Fiona,

I am having the same issue as JT-EE

Thanks

Fiona

Hello @JulianCHBS.

Thanks for adding your experience with the file locking feature missing in this discussion.

Please try to access the "Early releases" section of your Admin console, from an incognito window/private browsing mode of your browser. If you still don't see the file locking feature, please respond to the email I've sent you.

You will find it checking the inbox of the address associated with your Community profile. :nerd: :envelope:

Thank you!

mikedag

i also dont see the early access option gor file locking

Fiona

Hi @mikedag!

The file locking feature is no longer an "Early release" and it is expected not to see it under "Early releases".

It will be gradually rolled out to all Business teams. You can check if you already have it under, "Content".

I hope you do! If you don't, you will have it soon. :slight_smile:

Cheers!

mikedag

Appreciate your response I do see locked files tab in my admin , but no option for the users in the web browser on how they can select a file for "locking" ty again this is an important tool for us , i think badge helps to alert us for MS products but this seems good(better solution if we really need to have 1 user in a file at a time) for those and other files ?

Fiona

Have the members try the following steps:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Click Files in the left column.
Click … (ellipsis) next to the file name.
Click Lock Editing or Unlock Editing.

If they don't have the option to lock, it seems like the feature has not rolled out to your team yet. But as mentioned, it will show up soon.

I understand how important this is. This feature is a real problem solver! :nerd:

I hope you have it already!

telok

Hi, I can see the "Locked files" tab under Content. However, I cannot find the option to lock individual files on Dropbox.com, the Desktop app or File Explorer. Do i still need to enable this feature somewhere first? Thanks

Daphne

Hey @telok, I hope you're well today!

You can check if this is enabled for the team under the Settings tab in the Admin console here. Do you see this option toggled "On"?

Let me know - thanks!

Tristan_

Hi,

I have a computer at home and at work that both have dropbox installed, and I use the same login on both computers.

In this instance, how does file locking handle this if I lock a file from one PC and then use another with the same account?

Daphne

Hey @Tristan_, thanks for joining the discussion here!

The file will be locked for that user's account rather than a specific device.

So locking the file from one device connected to your account won't prevent you from being able to open the same file on another device connected to that account.

I hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!

Harald H.4

A manual process is better than no process. However, this is stone-age. DOS solved the issue in the late 80's as far as I remember. People will forget to manually lock files and to unlock them. File locking mechanisms should be automatic at least in MS Office applications.

How to achieve this behaviour?
Alternatively, when will this functionality be available?

Additionally, why not overlay the Dropbox mechanism for file locking with the Windows mechanism, allowing for file locking on a device basis?