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
    2019-03-19T20:47:26+00:00

    Please allow me to paraphrase for Microsoft...since they can't say it. 

    Dear O365 User, 

    If you cannot already tell by our responses, we don't care about your feedback, or about your work files. If you cannot access your OneDrive files through the Office 365 account that you or your organization pay for, that's your own fault. Before you ask anything, are you on a Mac? If so, just expect us to blame everything on that.

    Please re-read the generic responses we posted back in 2007, and you will find that there are no helpful links or relatable information regarding your "widespread" issue. If you haven't quit after you were reprimanded for not completing work by your deadline because your files were locked by yourself, then we will ask you if this "answered your question" just to drive the point home. Besides, when you complain about OneDrive, you inadvertently become a perpetual marketing vehicle employed at zero cost, so what's wrong with that? Hm, seems not testing our products is a two-fold return on investment. Good luck! 

    This thread has been resolved.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-03-15T00:15:03+00:00

    Keep the tickets coming ----- Msft will not listen or react unless they get deluged with complaints. And even then they may not .....

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-03-14T16:25:10+00:00

    @Tisky - Original post issue has not 'gone', it times out after a certain amount of time, this is one of the underlying problems...the time it takes for the file become 'unlocked'.  It seems to take anywhere between 1 and 10 hours, I personally experienced this by patiently waiting over an hour last week to see how long it would take. 

    Clearing cache and credentials manager does not fix this issue, neither does rebooting, nor signing out of Office 365, or even signing in using InCognito/InPrivate mode.  

    I'm opening a support ticket with Microsoft and will post their response here.

    I am adding my voice as an admin on behalf of my users. This issue happens when they tend to work quickly with Word documents on SharePoint. I am also planning to open a support ticket, but would love to hear more about what's happened with yours @Pistolbrazil.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-03-13T02:39:40+00:00

    @Tisky - Original post issue has not 'gone', it times out after a certain amount of time, this is one of the underlying problems...the time it takes for the file become 'unlocked'.  It seems to take anywhere between 1 and 10 hours, I personally experienced this by patiently waiting over an hour last week to see how long it would take. 

    Clearing cache and credentials manager does not fix this issue, neither does rebooting, nor signing out of Office 365, or even signing in using InCognito/InPrivate mode.  

    I have seen some online posts talking about a 10 minute lock, but that was from development documents found on Github.

    I'm opening a support ticket with Microsoft and will post their response here.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-03-13T02:29:16+00:00

    Is Microsoft going to chime in again or are they considering this thread closed?

    This issue is a big problem for my users as well and would love to see MS look into this.  I'm creating a support ticket with Microsoft Support and will post any response from them here.

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