As the Administrator within BOX, I own all of the data on the environment. If a file is “locked” because of a password or a glitch that prevents users from editing (says the file is open by someone else) even though they have editing permissions, is there a way for me to clear the lock or remove this restriction. This is something you could do on a basic windows environment by clearing the open files but cannot do it on BOX.
Any help is appreciated.
👋 Hi
Yes, as a Box Administrator or Co-admin (or any collaborator with Co-owner, Editor, or Viewer Uploader permissions), you can clear a file lock or remove the editing restriction directly from the Box Web Application or Box Drive.
Unlike a traditional Windows environment where you might clear open files on a server share, Box manages file locking at the application level. Here is how you can clear a file lock:
... to the right of the file name) to open the More Options menu.
To prevent files from remaining locked due to user glitches or forgetting to unlock them, Box Administrators can enable the Enhanced Lock/Unlock feature for Box Drive (v2.21 and above). This automatically manages locks when files are opened and closed:
AutoLockUnlock = 1): Automatically locks the file when a user opens it in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and automatically unlocks it when they close the application (after edits upload to Box).AutoLockUnlock = 0): Prompts the user to lock the file upon opening, and automatically unlocks it when closed.This configuration is managed via Windows Registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Box\Box by creating a REG_DWORD value named AutoLockUnlock set to 1 or 0.
If these don’t work: collect the file name and file ID, note the Locked by user shown in the web UI (if any), close local apps and restart Box Drive, and then open a Box Support ticket with those details so Support can investigate server-side stuck locks.
Hi Jey,
Thanks for the feedback. What happens if the file is locked by a password (on a password protected HR file for instance). I know the default is not to use passwords however some rogue ones are still out there and once locked we cannot do anything and just have to wait for the lock to disappear which can take 30+ minutes.
Hello Paul, I appreciate your response.
Currently, password-protected files are not supported for real-time co-authoring (i.e., in Box with Microsoft Office for web, reference: Real-Time Co-Authoring). This may be the behavior or issue you are experiencing.
This means if a file has a password set on it (e.g., a password-protected Word or Excel document), Box's Microsoft Office co-authoring functionality cannot be used on that file. This is a known limitation. As a result, users may encounter a "File in Use" message or be unable to open the file for collaborative editing.
To use co-authoring, the password protection would need to be removed from the file (as you’ve mentioned not to use passwords). If you need to keep the file protected, do not use Office for web for editing. Instead, download the file, edit it locally, and re-upload it to Box.
If the password has already been removed and users are still unable to open or edit the file, or continue to experience extended lock periods, please submit a ticket so we can investigate further.
As a Box Admin, you can manage user permissions and ownership, but you generally cannot directly clear a file lock caused by a user editing session the way you can with open files on a Windows file server.
A few things to try:
If the lock persists and no one actually has the file open, it may be a synchronization or application glitch. In that case, Box Support can often clear backend locks that administrators cannot remove themselves.
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