# "Locked for editing by another user"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223 "2020-01-10T15:48:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/1 "2020-01-10T15:48:02Z")
I went to open a passworded Word document this morning and got this message. But there is only one other computer in the house and it is presently turned off. Additionally, I know that this file is NOT open on that computer, even if it was on. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/2 "2020-01-10T15:52:56Z")
I’ve had that happen, IIRC, in my case, I had to go to the other computer and delete the lock file that didn’t disappear on it’s own. Since the other computer is off, it may just be a glitch on yours. Go to the folder where the file is save and look for another file with a similar name to this one and the word ‘lock’ somewhere in the name. It’ll likely be a hidden file so, if not done already, you’ll need to make sure the directory is set to show hidden/system files. Find it, delete it, try opening your file again. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/3 "2020-01-10T15:53:31Z")
Look in the folder where the document is. If there is a another file in there with a similar name that starts with a tilde, delete it. If that doesn’t solve the problem, see this > **["The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when you...](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/-the-document-is-locked-for-editing-by-another-user-error-message-when-you-try-to-open-a-document-in-word-10b92aeb-2e23-25e0-9110-370af6edb638)** > > Explains that you receive an error message when you open a Word document. This issue may occur if Word did not quit correctly, or if another instance of Word has opened the document. You may have to end the Winword.exe process to resolve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/4 "2020-01-10T15:54:58Z")
Whatever digital action flags the file as being in use by another user got set somehow, most likely by YOU in a prior incident of having the file open. I most often see it happen in Excel (which is more commonly deployed as a multi user document). I don’t know what to do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/5 "2020-01-10T16:16:57Z")
The suggestions gave no joy, so I reverted to the time-honored reboot method, which seems to have cleared the problem. Thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/6 "2020-01-10T18:43:59Z")
Yes, possibly (a) the file is still “locked” i.e. held open by some process even though it has theoretically been told to close. This is where a reboot clears the open file. Or (b) somehow it got saved as locked. The file with the tilde simply tells you who has it locked, which may or may not be accurate. I’ve had situations where the tilde-file is left from a week ago, but the file is locked by someone else. It reads the file and says “file locked by Fred”. Delete the tilde file and it now says “file locked by another user”. Simplest solution - open file read only, do “save as”. Then delete the original and rename new version to original. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/7 "2020-01-10T18:57:19Z")
If it ever comes up again for you, I’ve used a software called [Emco UnLockIT](https://emcosoftware.com/unlock-it) in the past and it is very useful and works as advertised. I think I even got the recommendation from the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/locked-for-editing-by-another-user/846223/8 "2020-01-11T05:32:49Z")
When I have encountered “locked” or “read-only” files, I’ve usually found that opening the Task Manager and stopping Windows Explorer and then restarting it (explorer.exe) fixes the problem. Warning: when you stop Windows Explorer, the desktop disappears. Don’t panic.