Document Editing, Co-Authoring, and File Replacement Locks

Govenda supports editing Microsoft Office files through Office Online. In some cases, multiple users may be able to edit the same Office document at the same time through Office Online co-authoring. However, while a file is being edited or processed, certain actions in Govenda may be temporarily blocked.

This article explains what the "currently being edited" indicator means, what actions are affected, and what to do if a document appears locked.

Can multiple people edit the same document at the same time?

In some cases, yes. Microsoft Office Online supports co-authoring, so more than one user may be able to edit the same Office document at the same time.

Because of that, seeing that a file is being edited does not always mean other users are completely blocked from editing.

What may be blocked are actions that replace or regenerate the file version in Govenda, such as:

• Replacing the current file with a new version
• Marking an older file version as the current version
• Updating a copied file with the latest version of the source file
• Some agenda/document replacement actions
• Viewing the newest PDF conversion while the file is still being processed

"This file is currently being edited"

You may see an indicator in the document viewer that says the file is currently being edited.

This usually means someone has the native Office document open in Office Online, or Govenda is still processing changes from an Office Online editing session.

You may still be able to view the document, and in some cases you may still be able to co-edit it in Office Online. However, replacing or updating the file version may be temporarily blocked.

"Latest file is currently being edited, and cannot be replaced at this time"

This message appears when you try to replace a file, restore a previous version, or update a copied file while Govenda detects an active native-file editing lock.

What to do:

1. Ask anyone editing the file to finish and close the Office Online editor.
2. Wait a few minutes for Govenda to process the latest changes.
3. Refresh the page and try again.
4. If the message continues for more than 30 minutes, contact Govenda Support at support@govenda.com.

"Lock mismatch / Locked by another interface"

This is a technical Office Online lock conflict. It can happen when an editing session is interrupted, when a browser closes unexpectedly, or when Office Online and Govenda temporarily disagree about the current file lock.

What to do:

1. Close any open Office Online editing tabs for this document.
2. Wait a few minutes.
3. Refresh Govenda and try again.
4. If the lock persists for more than 30 minutes, contact Govenda Support.

The file still looks locked after everyone closed it

A file may continue to show as being edited if:

• Someone closed their browser without properly closing the Office Online editor
• The browser or network connection failed during editing
• Office Online is still saving or syncing changes
• Govenda is regenerating the PDF preview after native-file edits

Most locks clear automatically. If the lock remains for more than 30 minutes, contact Govenda Support and include:

• Your company name
• The file name
• Where the file is located (meeting, agenda item, document folder, or workroom)
• When the issue started

Best practices

• When finished editing, close the Office Online editor tab or window.
• Wait for Govenda to finish processing the file before replacing or restoring versions.
• If multiple users are editing, coordinate before replacing the file or changing the current version.
• If you only need to comment on the document, use annotations or comments instead of editing the native file.