Can we have an option to lock files we're working on to avoid conflicted copies?

[Angie O.]

My business partner and I (often working from different locations) are constantly working on the same documents and trying to save our work at the same time. Result: lots of conflicted copies of files. I would love to have something in the Dropbox UI that allows us to see if another person is working on the file or has the file open. It would save us a lot of FLAME texting. We love each other but this is one thing that makes us want to kill each other.

[Nancy]

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[MSauter]

Es wäre wirklich Hilfreich, wenn eine automatische Bearbeitungssperre von Dateien aktiviert wird, sobald eine Person/Konto die Datei offen hat und damit arbeitet. So können Dateien in Konfliktstehend mit deutlich reduziert werden. Derzeit ist es nur möglich die Händisch zu machen aber leider denkt man nicht immer daran dies zu aktivieren und zu deaktivieren.

[jc1153]

Currently Dropbox has a file locking feature, which works great, however we need one that we can turn on to automatically lock a file for editing if you are the first person to open it or the first one to make changes.

A problem right now is someone in the group will lock a file, so they can edit it and nobody will create a conflicting copy, but then forget to unlock it.  This is definitely a problem when you have to try to get ahold of someone either via phone or email, and wait for them to unlock it.  Especially if they have already left the office for the day or even worse the weekend/vacation.

The lock feature just needs to activate for a file when you open it, and deactivate for a file when you close it.   Everything else about the manual locking system currently in place works just as it should.

[trustpep]

Here is an idea about improving the Dropbox locking feature, by automatic locking and unlocking a file when it is opened by any shared user.  This would help solve the creation of conflicted files when two or more users are sharing the same file and both are trying to update it, edit and save it.

[Nancy]

This idea has been closed as it has reached the end of the Share an Idea process.

You can find out more about this feature here and get support or provide feedback in Help from the Community.

Thank you for your suggestion, and if you have another idea to share, please do!