collaboration locks
collaboration locks prevent two people from silently overwriting the same document. the active editor holds a soft lock through heartbeats.
quick answer
use this page when a teammate sees read-only mode or request edit access.
use this for
- explaining read-only editor state
- debugging document edit conflicts
- handoff between teammates
steps
- open a shared document.
- if no one else holds the lock, start editing normally.
- if someone else is editing, read-only mode appears.
- click request edit access if you need to take over.
- the current holder sees the request on their next heartbeat.
details to know
- heartbeats run about every five seconds while editing.
- stale locks are released after the server cutoff.
- the lock also tracks document version for save conflict handling.
limits and edge cases
- closing a tab should release the lock, but crashes may wait for stale cleanup.
- viewers and commenters can stay read-only because of role, not because of a lock.
ready to use the product instead of reading about it?
open app