In a SharePoint document library, when you check out a file to make changes, you are preventing and locking the document from editing by other users. The checked-out file gets locked and marked to show the checked-out user has exclusive editing rights until the user check-in back to the library. In this post, we will explore how to set up a library to require check-out of files to make changes.
In SharePoint Online, things are getting towards team collaboration and co-authoring documents. Co-authoring allows multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, but the concept of check-out/check-in is the opposite of co-authoring. So, don’t configure your library to Require check-out if users plan to co-author documents in the library. Multiple users cannot work in a single document when required check out is turned on.
Configure Require to Check Out of files to Edit in Document library
Follow the below steps to make users require to check out files to Edit in SharePoint Online Library.
- Navigate to the document library where you want to enable the check-out feature.
- Click the Gear Icon (Settings) in the top-right and select Library settings.
- On the Library Settings page, under General Settings, select Versioning settings.
- On the Versioning Settings page, scroll down to Require Check Out section, under Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited?, select Yes.
- Click the OK button to save the changes.
- Now, you can check out the required files, make changes and check in back to this library.
Check-out and Check-in back a file in Document library
Follow the below steps to check out a file, make changes, and check in the file in the SharePoint Online library.
- Navigate to the document library where you want to check out a file.
- Select the file, click the More options (… – three dots) in the toolbar, and then click Check out.
- The document’s icon will have a red arrow over it when a file is checked out. It indicates that the file is checked-out and other users cannot edit.
- You can now edit the file either online or offline and save changes.
- Once you’re completed the work and there are no more changes required, select the file, click the More options (… – three dots) in the toolbar, and then click Check in to upload your changes as the latest version.
