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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-26T21:44:08+00:00

    I've noticed that if the file is open somewhere, it will give you this error. Try closing all instances of the file, then move it.

    It also happens when the file is closed everywhere as several people have reported and as Msft themselves have confirmed by saying it's "by design". Clearly it's a bad design but not untypical of a co that's not known for its care for customers.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-26T21:17:59+00:00

    I've noticed that if the file is open somewhere, it will give you this error. Try closing all instances of the file, then move it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-09T04:50:43+00:00

    Mine was already set to No and it wasn't working. So I changed it to Yes, saved it. Then changed it back to No and saved it.

    Now it works! Awesome!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-02-21T10:42:51+00:00

    Make sure you're not in your OneDrive, but in SharePoint. You'll see where you are up in the left corner of the browser window.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-01-28T03:54:25+00:00

    It's 2 years now but it still haunts the users. The worst thing is there is no definite work around for this. Being in IT puts you in a bad spot because you do not have a definite solution for the issue.

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