Simultaneously edit a document with other authors

To collaborate, you have to save your document in OneDrive or SharePoint so that others can access it. For more information about saving your files, including how to save to a different location on an online service, see Save a file in Office for Mac.

1. Choose Share > Invite people.

   

2. If you haven't yet saved your document on OneDrive or SharePoint in Microsoft 365, you will be prompted to do so. Choose a location, and then choose Save.

3. In the Invite People dialog box, type the names or email addresses of the people you want to share the document with.

   

4. (Optional) Include a short message.

5. Select the Can Edit check box, and then choose Share.

   The people that you invite will receive an email message with a link to the shared document. When people follow the link you sent, the document will open in their version of Word or in Word for the web.

1. Open and edit the document in Word 2016 for Mac or in Word for the web.

2. In Word 2016 for Mac, you can see the number of people currently editing the document next to the Share icon. Click the icon to see who has permission to edit the document and who is currently editing.

   In Word for the web, you'll see the names of the other people editing the document in the top right corner of your screen.

3. Click the Save and Refresh icon to save your changes to the document and update it with changes made by others.

4. You will receive an error message if your changes conflict with updates done by someone else.

   

   Click Resolve.

5. On the Conflicts tab you can accept your changes, reject your changes, and add comments.

   

   When you are finished, you will see a message that the conflicts have been resolved. Click Close Conflict View.

   

   Click Save.

When you save a document in a library on your organization's SharePoint site, you and your colleagues have a central location for accessing the document. You can send a link instead of sending an attachment. In this manner, you maintain just a single copy of the document. If people make revisions, they do so in the same copy. You do not have to reconcile multiple versions and copies of the document.

1. On the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save to SharePoint.

2. To add a SharePoint site, click Add a location  , enter the URL to the SharePoint library, and then click Add.

   Note: By default, many SharePoint sites have a Shared Documents library. An example of a URL that links to this library is http://fabrikam/shared%documents.

3. In the Save As box, enter the name of your document.

4. Under Recent Locations or Saved Locations, click the SharePoint library where you want to save the document, and then click Save.

   Tip: The last several documents that you have opened from a SharePoint site, either through Office for Mac, Document Connection for Mac, or your browser, are listed under Recent Locations.

When you save a document on OneDrive, the document is stored in a central location that you can access from almost anywhere. Even if you're away from your computer, you can work on your document whenever you have a connection to the Web. Saving a document on OneDrive also makes it easy to share the document with other people. You can send a link instead of sending an attachment. In this manner, you maintain just a single copy of the document. If people make revisions, they do so in the same copy. You do not have to reconcile multiple versions and copies of the document.

1. On the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save to OneDrive.

2. If this is the first time that you have tried to access OneDrive, enter your Windows Live ID and Password, and then click Sign In.

   If you use Hotmail, Messenger, or Xbox Live, you already have a Windows Live ID. If you don't have one, click Get a Live ID to create a new Windows Live ID.

3. In the Save As box, enter the name of your document.

4. Under Personal Folders or Shared Folders, click the folder where you want to save the document, and then click Save.

1. On the File menu, click Open URL.

2. In the URL box, type the URL for the document that is located on SharePoint, such as http://fabrikam/shared%20documents/DocumentName.docx.

   Note: You have to use a URL for a document in a SharePoint library. You cannot use a URL for other areas of a SharePoint site, such as a SharePoint list or top-level sites.

3. Click Open.

   Notes: 

   • You can also open a document that is located on SharePoint from your browser. To open the document in Word, click Open in Word.

   • If you prefer to edit the file separately instead of at the same time as other authors, you can check out the file from the SharePoint site. When you check out a file, the other authors are "locked out" and can only read the file.

1. Open your browser and sign in to OneDrive.

2. Find and click the document, and then click Open in Word.

1. On the View menu, click Print Layout.

2. Do one of the following:

   To	Do this
   See who is editing anywhere in the document	On the status bar at the bottom of the window, click the numbered icon  . To send a communication to someone, click his or her name, and then click a communication method - for example, send an instant message.
   See who is editing a specific paragraph	In the document, click the icon next to the paragraph. To send a communication to someone, click his or her name, and then click a communication method - for example, send an instant message.

When you save your changes to the server, any other authors who are editing the document are notified that updates are available. Any updates from other authors are automatically refreshed in the document at that time if they don't conflict with your changes. You can see when other authors save changes to the server because a message that indicates that updates are available appears on the status bar at the bottom of the window.

1. On the status bar at the bottom of the window, click Updates Available  to refresh the document with updates.

2. On the This document was refreshed with updates by other authors dialog box, click OK.

   Your changes are saved on the server, and updates that were made by the other authors appear in your document as tracked changes.

   Notes: 

   • Updates that were made by other authors are refreshed automatically only if they don't conflict with your changes. If any updates conflict with your changes, you will be able to review the conflicting changes before they are saved and decide which changes to accept or reject.

   • You can also click Save   on the Standard toolbar to refresh the document with updates that were made by other authors.

If you want to track the changes made by other authors, turn on Track Changes and save the document on the server. When you are ready to review the updates from other authors, you can see what has been added to or removed from the document. By using Track Changes, you can decide whether you want to accept or reject those changes.

1. Click any areas that are blocked by other authors, and then click Unblock.

2. Accept or reject changes as you would in any other document. For more information, see Use tracked changes.

3. When you finish accepting changes, save this version of the document on the server.