Management of Locked Files on Windows Files Explorer¶

Overview¶

You can use cooperative locking. That is useful if you need to ensure exclusive write access to files.

The desktop files client has support for that but it also depends on the server support for this feature.

Nextcloud server¶

Install and enable the temporary files lock server app.

Locking Files¶

You can have automated locking of files or manual locking.

Manual Locks¶

Using Windows Explorer, it is possible to manually lock a file for exclusive write access. To do that, one needs to navigate to the file and using the contextual menu, lock the file.

1. Open the menu and select "Show more options"


2. Navigate to the Nextcloud menu and lock the file


Automated Locks¶

The client can also perform automated lock creations.

• Opening an office file (.odt, .docx, .ods, …) which is recognised by the client's automated lock file detection. Once the client detected the hidden lock file created by the office software, the client locks the file in Nextcloud.

• When using the "Edit locally" to open a file from the browser in a desktop application, the client locks file in Nextcloud.

Unlocking Files¶

Manual Locks¶

Using Windows Explorer, it is possible to manually unlock a file for exclusive write access. To do that, one needs to navigate to the file and using the contextual menu, unlock the file.

1. Open the menu and select "Show more options"


2. Navigate to the Nextcloud menu and unlock the file


Automated Locks¶

The client can also perform automated lock removals. That is only supported for automated lock detection from office software. If a lock file was detected when you modify an office file type, upon removal of the hidden lock file, the client will also remove the lock inside Nextcloud.