Edit a file in Microsoft Office
You can open, edit and save a Microsoft Office file (Word, Excel or PowerPoint) directly from the Files module, without manually downloading the file to your computer, opening it in Office, editing and saving the file, and then uploading the edited file as a new version.
note
You need to be a content admin to use this feature.
This feature requires a Windows computer with the following specifications:
- Operating System: Windows 7 and above or macOS.
- Microsoft Office 2013 (365) or newer.
- Internet Explorer 8 and above, Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge browser.
Compatibility notes
:- This feature can be used with Office 97-2003 documents (such as .doc files) and the most current version of Office documents (such as .docx files).
- Users with Office 2010 for Windows or Office for macOS X may find it works with this feature, but these versions are not well supported in combination with newer browsers and are therefore considered to be unsupported at this time..
- This feature is not available on mobile operating systems like iOS and Android..
- This feature can be completely hidden for the entire instance if requested by the instance owners..
note
If you do not have access to a supported version of Office, then this feature can be disabled for the entire instance of Collaborate - however, this is applied to all users who access the same instance, even if at other companies and have versions of Office that support the feature.
note
How does the Microsoft Office client integration handle files when they are opened?
- When a user opens a document from HighQ for editing in an Office desktop app (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, Excel), an encrypted version is created and stored in a temporary folder and given a .TMP extension (not a readable format).
- The .TMP file remains on the user's local machine until the user closes the file or the Office app, at which point the temporary version is deleted from the local folder.
- Currently, Office files initiated for creation or editing from HighQ (i.e. files resident in HighQ) can be accessed from the Recents list in the native/client app, irrespective of whether the user is logged into HighQ.
- However, as of the 5.8.17 release, access to HighQ-resident files from the Recents list in the Office native/client app will only be permitted if the user is logged into HighQ.
For more information on our online integration, please click here.
The Open in... action
If the
Files
module contains Microsoft Office files and you have edit rights, the Open in...
option is found in the file's action menu.Open in...
, followed by options, such as Word
, Excel
or PowerPoint
. 
Opening a file
Select the
Open in...
action in the file's action menu.note
Assuming:
- you have edit rights
- the file is not currently checked out
- theCheck out/Check infeature has been enabled for a site
- no other user is currently editing the file in Office
The
Editing files
window opens.
note
You can select the
Do not show this message again
checkbox to ensure that the prompt does not appear again.This window describes how the
Open in...
feature works:- The file is marked as checked out in Collaborate while it is being edited, ensuring no one else can edit the file or add a new version
- Other users with edit rights are made aware that the file is being edited and by whom
- Saving the file updates a draft of the file stored in Collaborate (not on your local machine)
- Drafts are available in yourMy Draftssection and theMy Draftssection for the site
- When the file is closed in Office, a new version of the file is saved on the Collaborate site, if changes have been made
note
If the file is not saved in Office for a certain amount of time (the duration can vary for each instance), the check out is cancelled automatically and the file is available to be edited or checked out by another user.
After the file has timed out, any changes made can only be saved on your computer.
Select
OK
, Office opens the file.note
There may be a delay of several seconds before the file opens.
Accept any security prompts
Depending on the operating system, browser and version of Office used and the other security settings applied to your computer, you may see additional prompts. The actual content, format and location of these prompts vary, based on your versions of Office, browser and operating system. There is no way for Collaborate to bypass these prompts.
note
If your browser blocks popups, please change this to allow popups. It may be necessary to click
Open in...
again after allowing popups.You may see prompts like the following:
Accept or allow these prompts.
When the file opens in the Office application, you might see a message like the following:
To start editing the file, select
Enable Editing
.note
At this point, the file is checked out from Collaborate.
Make and save changes
Edit the file, saving periodically to ensure edits are not lost. Each time the file is saved, the most current version of the file is saved as a draft in Collaborate and is only available to you.
The first time you save the file, a message similar to this may be displayed:
Select
Don't show this message again
and select OK
.If a message similar to the following is displayed:
Keep the selected radio button and select
OK
. This is a Microsoft Office prompt but the file has not been changed by another person and your changes will not be merged with any other changes.Select
OK
.Close the file
When you finish your changes, select
Save
and close the file in the Office application. The file is checked back into Collaborate as a new version.note
A new version of the file is not added to Collaborate until the file is closed in Office.
If the file is closed and no changes were made, a new version will not be added to Collaborate.
Timing Out
As noted above, if enough time passes without any saved changes, the file check-out automatically expires. A new version is NOT added to Collaborate and anyone with edit rights can edit the file again.
note
Maintain an active internet connection while editing a file, otherwise, you risk that the file times out and you cannot save further drafts back to Collaborate.
If the check-out expires, you are sent a notification email.
note
This email is also sent if an Administrator manually cancels a check-out.
After a file is timed out, you receive an Office error message if you try to save further changes to the file.
note
If changes had been saved as a
Draft
before the file timed out then some or all of the edits would be available in My Drafts.
You may no longer be able to save changes back to Collaborate in other situations, such as:
- The file being edited has been deleted by another user
- You no longer have edit rights to the file for any reason (such as no longer having access to the site, you have lost permission to edit the file, the site status no longer permits changes to files, etc.)
- The check out was manually cancelled by an Administrator
Drafts
Every time you save a file in Office after making changes, a draft of the file is saved to Collaborate. This ensures that you do not lose edits if your computer encounters a problem or if the file times out.
Each time a save is performed, the most recent draft of the file in Office overwrites the prior saved draft of the same file.
To access the draft of a file in Collaborate, use the
My drafts
button in the Files module.
The drafts are also available from your
My drafts
page.If a file is in the
My drafts
section, you have several options.
The options that can be performed on a draft include:
- View (preview) the draft. Any DRM features do not apply to your own draft
- Download the draft
- Resume an edit, which performs the same as theOpen in...option - this option is not available if the file has been checked out or is being edited by another user
- Simply save the draft as a new version of the file, without making additional edits - this option is not available if the file has been checked out or is being edited by another user
- Delete the draft
What other users see
While a file is edited in Office, other users can see that the file is checked out and cannot be edited or replaced with a new version. The
Add version
, Check out
and Open in...
options are not displayed. Instead, other users see a Checked out
option in the action menu.
Select
Checked out
to see when the file was checked out and by whom.
The same information is available on the file's
Info
page.note
An administrator can cancel the checked-out status of a file being edited in Office, in which case the file is treated as if it had timed out.