How to Resolve error "Document is Checked Out by Another User" Error

Document is checked out by another user

At some point in time, while editing documents in SharePoint Services you may come across an error "Document is locked by another user". This error usually occurs if any of the following conditions are true:

1. MS Word crashes while you are working on the document

2. Computer restarted during document editing

3. Lost of network connectivity

Let me first briefly tell you what happens in the background while you are editing a document in SharePoint.

Lets say you went to a document library in SharePoint, and start editing a document in MS Word. As soon the document is opened, MS Word locks the document to you so that other users cannot use it for editing.

Now guess what? It actually stores the document in your PC at a hidden location which by default is located at C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO where UserName is your ID which you use to login into your computer.

Now you might be wondering what happens after the document is saved back into the document library? As soon the document is closed, MS Word under normal circumstances remove the file from Content.MSO folder.

 Now this is all good, but what about if any of the above scenario occurrs that prevents the document from cleaning itself up, you will keep getting "Document is locked by another user" error which is annoying (alteast to me :P)

How to resolve it? Simple!!

 Delete all files from the temporary Content.MSO folder and attempt to open the document again from SharePoint... Woo hoo.. Sucess :) Just Make sure that you get the backup of the files in Content.MSO folder before deleting them just in case the version stored on the hard drive is more recent than the one stored in SharePoint.

I hope this article will help you resolve the issue you may encounter when working on MS Word using SharePoint.