Understand who has access to co-authoring shared content
-
OneDrive OneDrive is the Microsoft cloud storage solution that helps you sync, store, back up, and protect your content. See who a file is shared with in OneDrive or SharePoint. In OneDrive, you can set an expiration date and even a password on content that may be sensitive, or will be shared outside of your organization.
-
SharePoint SharePoint allows you to create internal websites so that you organization can communicate and collaborate from any device. When you share files and folders in SharePoint, you can decide whether to let people edit or just view them. At any time, you can choose to stop sharing SharePoint or OneDrive files and folders.
Identify content you have shared and content that’s been shared with you
Across Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you can easily see content that’s been shared with you. The Shared with me view in OneDrive shows you files that others have shared with you.
Track edits to content and understand file activity over time
Word Turn on Track changes so that changes made over time are easy to spot. The changes are like suggestions that you can review, and then remove them or make them permanent. If needed, you can also compare two different Word documents to see the differences.
PowerPoint PowerPoint doesn’t have a Track Changes feature like Word, but you can receive comments and feedback from reviewers by first saving your presentation to your computer, and then posting a second copy to a shared location such as OneDrive or SharePoint. Learn more about collaboration in PowerPoint.
Excel When co-authoring in Excel, consider using Sheets views create customized views in an Excel worksheet so that your work isn't disrupted by others.
SharePoint file activity SharePoint keeps track of changes and updates of files in your library. You can see the changes that were made and when. To help you keep track of changes, you can set up an alert for a list, library, folder, file, or list item. You can also enable and configure versioning for a SharePoint list or libraries to track and manage sensitive content over time.
OneDrive file activity If you share a document from your OneDrive with others to view and edit, you can get notified when a team member updates the file and you can track change details in the version history pane or details pane.
Tips for co-authoring content
-
Always use copy links instead of copying and pasting file or folder URLs.
-
Use @mention to get a specific person’s attention.
-
Use comments to share feedback.
-
Save new documents directly into OneDrive or SharePoint so you can access the document on any device, and it enables features like AutoSave and Version history.
-
Use Version history to view previous versions of Office files.
Resources
Store, share, and sync your files
Learn more about collaborating in Microsoft Teams
Document collaboration and co-authoring
Troubleshoot co-authoring in Office
Troubleshoot common coauthoring errors