Simultaneously edit a document with other authors

When you collaborate with other authors to create a document, you can save time by simultaneously editing the document, instead of doing this separately. To edit the document at the same time, each author opens the file from a common location on a server.

Important: You can simultaneously edit documents in the .docx file format that are located on Windows Live OneDrive or a server that has Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 installed. To work with SharePoint in Office for Mac, you have to have Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011, Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2011, or Microsoft Office for Mac Standard 2011.

With the document open on your computer, you can see who else is editing the document, who is editing a specific paragraph, and when updates from other authors are available on the server.

Other author currently editing the document

All authors currently editing the document

 Changes from other authors available on the server

When you save your changes to the server, any updates from other authors are automatically refreshed in the document. Updates from other authors are refreshed automatically only if they don't conflict with changes that you made. If you and another author both change the same item, then a conflict may occur. If a conflict occurs when you save the document, you are prompted to review the conflict and accept or reject the change.

Do any of the following:

Save a document to a SharePoint site

When you save a document in a library on your organization's SharePoint site, you and your colleagues have a central location for accessing the document. You can send a link instead of sending an attachment. In this manner, you maintain just a single copy of the document. If people make revisions, they do so in the same copy. You do not have to reconcile multiple versions and copies of the document.

1. On the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save to SharePoint.

2. To add a SharePoint site, click Add a location  , enter the URL to the SharePoint library, and then click Add.

   Note: By default, many SharePoint sites have a Shared Documents library. An example of a URL that links to this library is http://fabrikam/shared%documents.

3. In the Save As box, enter the name of your document.

4. Under Recent Locations or Saved Locations, click the SharePoint library where you want to save the document, and then click Save.

   Tip: The last several documents that you have opened from a SharePoint site, either through Office for Mac, Document Connection for Mac, or your browser, are listed under Recent Locations.

Save a document to a Windows Live OneDrive

When you save a document to OneDrive, the document is stored in a central location that you can access from almost anywhere. Even if you're away from your computer, you can work on your document whenever you have a connection to the Web. Saving a document to OneDrive also makes it easy to share the document with other people. You can send a link instead of sending an attachment. In this manner, you maintain just a single copy of the document. If people make revisions, they do so in the same copy. You do not have to reconcile multiple versions and copies of the document.

1. On the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save to OneDrive.

2. If this is the first time that you have tried to access OneDrive, enter your Window Live ID and Password, and then click Sign In.

   If you use Hotmail, Messenger, or Xbox Live, you already have a Windows Live ID. If you don't have one, click Get a Live ID to create a new Windows Live ID.

3. In the Save As box, enter the name of your document.

4. Under Personal Folders or Shared Folders, click the folder where you want to save the document, and then click Save.

Open a document that is located on a SharePoint site

1. On the File menu, click Open URL.

2. In the URL box, type the URL for the document that is located on SharePoint, such as http://fabrikam/shared%20documents/DocumentName.docx.

   Note: You have to use a URL for a document in a SharePoint library. You cannot use a URL for other areas of a SharePoint site, such as a SharePoint list or top-level sites.

3. Click Open.

   Notes: 

   • You can also open a document that is located on SharePoint from your browser. To open the document in Word, click Open in Word.

   • If you prefer to edit the file separately instead of at the same time as other authors, you can check out the file from the SharePoint site. When you check out a file, the other authors are "locked out" and can only read the file.

Open a document that is located on a Windows Live OneDrive

1. Open your browser and sign in to Windows Live OneDrive.

2. Find and click the document, and then click Open in Word.

See who else is editing a document

1. On the View menu, click Print Layout.

2. Do one of the following:

To	Do this
See who is editing anywhere in the document	On the status bar at the bottom of the window, click the numbered icon  . To send a communication to someone, click his or her name, and then click a communication method - for example, send an instant message.
See who is editing a specific paragraph	In the document, click the icon next to the paragraph. To send a communication to someone, click his or her name, and then click a communication method - for example, send an instant message.

Save and refresh a document that has updates

When you save your changes to the server, any other authors who are editing the document are notified that updates are available. Any updates from other authors are automatically refreshed in the document at that time if they don't conflict with your changes. You can see when other authors save changes to the server because a message that indicates that updates are available appears on the status bar at the bottom of the window.

1. On the status bar at the bottom of the window, click Updates Available  to refresh the document with updates.

2. On the This document was refreshed with updates by other authors dialog box, click OK.

   Your changes are saved to the server, and updates that were made by the other authors appear in your document as tracked changes.

   Notes: 

   • Updates that were made by other authors are refreshed automatically only if they don't conflict with your changes. If any updates conflict with your changes, you will be able to review the conflicting changes before they are saved and decide which changes to accept or reject.

   • You can also click Save   on the Standard toolbar to refresh the document with updates that were made by other authors.

Review and accept changes from other authors

If you want to track the changes made by other authors, turn on Track Changes and save the document to the server. When you are ready to review the updates from other authors, you can see what has been added to or removed from the document. By using Track Changes, you can decide whether you want to accept or reject those changes.

Caution: Before you can accept or reject another author's changes in a blocked area, you must remove that author's block. You should only remove a block when you know that all other authors are finished editing the document. Otherwise, you run the risk of creating conflicts. Using Undo  does not restore a block.

1. Click any areas that are blocked by other authors and then click Unblock.

2. Accept or reject changes as you would in any other document. For more information, see Use tracked changes.

3. When you finish accepting changes, save this version of the document on the server.

See also

Commands that might be disabled when more than one person is editing a document

Save and refresh documents on a server

Block authors

Resolve conflicting changes

My changes are missing after simultaneously editing a document with other authors

I can't see changes made by other authors