What does "locked for Shared Use" mean, exactly?

Anonymous
2018-01-25T16:34:28+00:00

I've got a file in a SharePoint library that I'm trying to move to a new folder in the same library. But no matter how I try to move it, I get a message that "this file is locked for shared use," by me. But I didn't do anything to lock the file.

How did it get locked, and more importantly, how do I unlock it? Properties, Details, and similar have been unhelpful, and the old turn it off and turn it on again didn't work either.

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-02-02T15:46:06+00:00

    Hi Jeff,

    The root cause may different even when the symptoms are the same. Glad to hear that the problem is gone, if you have any problem in the future, please feel free to post back.

    Regards,

    Tisky

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-01T17:34:01+00:00

    Hi Tisky--thanks for the follow-up.

    I just checked. We were able to move the file today without having done the above steps. 

    Can you tell us why a file would spontaneously become "locked for shared use" in a library that doesn't doesn't require check-out, and when a team member didn't check the file out in the first place?

    Thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-01T16:47:45+00:00

    Hi Jeff,

    Have you tried the steps above?

    Regards,

    Tisky

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-30T12:31:51+00:00

    Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for your reply.

    Since Checkout was not required on the site library. You can try the following steps.

    1. Clear your Browser Cache and Restart your Browser.
    2. Clear your cache in Credential Manager. Here is an article for your reference: Clear Your Cache in Credential Manager.

    If the problem still persists, we’d like to confirm whether this problem only happen to the file in one library.

    About the error message, you can also refer to this article:

    The file {filename} is locked for shared use by {user}

    Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

    Regards,

    Tisky

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-01-29T13:30:05+00:00

    Hi, Tisky,

    Checkout was not required on that site's library, and the person who was mentioned in the locked for shared use message didn't check anything out.

    So that wasn't the cause of the problem.

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