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About this lesson

Work with multiple people in real-time in Office Online documents.

Quick reference

Co-Authoring Files and Documents Online

Seamlessly collaborate with others in real-time using co-authoring in Office Online.

When to use

Co-authoring documents enables us to work on files in real-time with multiple people and view changes as they are made.

Instructions

Historically, if we wanted to work on a document with other people we would attach the file to an email and send it to them. They would make their changes and then email the file back. 

This was an incredibly inefficient way of working. 

Now in Office Online, we can co-author documents. Co-authoring allows multiple people to access and work on a document at the same time. Each author can see the changes that are being made by others in real time. 

Co-authoring in Word Online

  • Open Word from the App Launcher
  • Open a file
  • Click the Share button in the top right-hand corner
  • Click Share again
  • Type the names of the people to share the document with
  • Set the access level to Can edit
  • Click Apply
  • Click Send

The invitees will receive an Outlook email with a link to the document. When they open the document, we can see their profile photo at the top of the document and we can also see where they are clicked in the document.

Change that they make will show in real-time and changes you make will show up for everyone else. 

Hints & tips

  • It's worth noting that co-authoring is only available when working in Office Online. 
Login to download
  • 00:04 One of the best things about working in Microsoft 365 is the seamless way that we
  • 00:09 can collaborate with others on files and documents.
  • 00:12 We can take any file that we have within Microsoft 365 and
  • 00:16 share it with colleagues and team members.
  • 00:19 And the coolest thing is that we can utilize co-authoring functionality.
  • 00:23 So what exactly is co-authoring?
  • 00:26 Well, let's open a file first of all.
  • 00:28 And for this example, I'm going to choose this one just here.
  • 00:31 It's a Word document called Training Information.
  • 00:34 And again, this just has some junk text in it for this particular tutorial.
  • 00:38 Now, we have this open in Word and I can go in and start making edits.
  • 00:43 But maybe I want to collaborate with my colleague Adele.
  • 00:47 What I can do is I can share this document with Adele, and
  • 00:51 then we can both open up this document and work in it at the same time.
  • 00:56 I can see where Adele is currently clicked in the document and
  • 00:59 I can also see the changes that she's making in real time.
  • 01:03 So this is true co-authoring and
  • 01:05 negates the need to send files attached to emails backwards and forwards.
  • 01:09 Now, when it comes to sharing files with others, when you're working in Microsoft
  • 01:13 365, there are numerous different places that we can do this.
  • 01:17 Now, if you already have your document open, like I do just here,
  • 01:21 notice that within Word Online, and you will find this within Excel and
  • 01:25 PowerPoint as well, we have a Share button in the top right-hand corner.
  • 01:29 So I can click this and I can share, or I can copy the link.
  • 01:33 Now, we are going to use this option.
  • 01:35 But before we do, let's just go back to the home page and
  • 01:38 take a look at where else we can share documents.
  • 01:41 So once again, we have Training Information just here.
  • 01:44 If I hover my mouse over this,
  • 01:46 the three dots in the middle will open up the More options menu.
  • 01:50 And you can see that I can share it from here as well.
  • 01:53 Now, remember, this file is essentially stored in OneDrive and
  • 01:57 SharePoint, so I can share from either of those applications as well.
  • 02:03 So if we quickly open up OneDrive, there is the file, and once again,
  • 02:08 I can click on the three dots and I can share it from here.
  • 02:12 So numerous different resources for sharing with others.
  • 02:16 Now, we are going to go back to Word Online and
  • 02:19 we're going to click the Share button in the top right-hand corner.
  • 02:22 Now, the first thing I want to do here is I want to determine
  • 02:25 what kind of access I want to give Adele.
  • 02:27 So I'm going to say people I choose, because I only want to limit it to her.
  • 02:33 So let's click on Apply,
  • 02:35 and then I can just specify that I want to share with Adele.
  • 02:39 I could share with more people just by typing their names in.
  • 02:42 I could then type a message.
  • 02:44 I'm not going to, just to save a bit of time, and
  • 02:48 then I can send that off to Adele.
  • 02:50 Now, what Adele is going to receive is basically an Outlook email with a link to
  • 02:54 this document.
  • 02:56 When she clicks on that link, it's going to jump her straight into this live
  • 03:00 original document that I currently have open.
  • 03:03 So let's give her a few minutes to open up the email and
  • 03:07 click on the link and we should see Adele arrive very shortly.
  • 03:12 And check it out, there she is.
  • 03:13 I can see her initials within the document.
  • 03:17 So that is showing me where she's currently clicked.
  • 03:19 And I can also see when she types and updates this document in real time.
  • 03:25 So this is true collaboration.
  • 03:28 Reversely, wherever I'm clicked and wherever I'm making changes, Adele
  • 03:32 is going to be able to see my initials in the version that she's working in.
  • 03:36 So this is what we refer to as co-authoring.
  • 03:40 And you could have more than one other person working in this document.
  • 03:43 You might have an entire team of people, five, six, seven people.
  • 03:47 So this is a really efficient way to work and
  • 03:49 really cuts down on the amount of documents that we're passing back and
  • 03:54 forth between team members via email attachments.
  • 03:57 Another thing you'll also notice is that you will be able to see the profile photo
  • 04:02 of anybody who's currently in this document with you.
  • 04:05 So if you take a look at the top, next to Comments,
  • 04:08 you can see Adele's little icon just there.
  • 04:11 If I hover over, it's telling me that she's currently clicked on Page 1, and
  • 04:15 I can even jump to her location in the document.
  • 04:18 And the final point worth noting is that co-authoring is only available when
  • 04:22 you're working in the online version of your Office applications.

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