Egnyte's Microsoft Office Desktop integration lets multiple users edit the same Microsoft office files at the same time (such as .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx) — directly from the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint apps installed on their computer — while the file stays stored in Egnyte. This article explains how co-editing is triggered from the Egnyte Desktop App on Mac and Windows, how the per-app co-edit policy affects what happens when a file is opened, and how to start co-editing manually when needed.
Additional Setup
- To set up the integration domain-wide (admin task), see Configure Co-Editing for Microsoft Office Desktop. That article covers prerequisites, supported file types, the Apps & Integrations setup, and the one-time Office storage sign-in (File → Account → Add a Service → Storage → Egnyte).
- To co-edit in a browser instead of a desktop Office app, see Co-Edit Using the Microsoft Office Online.
How Co-editing is Triggered
For most users, co-editing starts automatically when a user double-clicks an Office file in the Egnyte drive. The file will open in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint in a shared session.
What actually happens on double-click is controlled by the co-edit policy for that app. Egnyte has four policy values, set per Office app:
| Policy | What happens when double-clicking a file? |
| Default |
|
| Always co-edit |
|
| Ask |
|
| Never co-edit |
|
Users can check or change the policy from Configure → Co-editing app defaults:
Organization-Wide Co-editing Controls
Users cannot change their preferred integration for co-editing if it has been configured by the admin. They will see a banner inside the co-edit dialog — "Integrations for co-editing are set by your administrator". In addition, admins can lock the per-app policies for the whole organization. When that's the case:
- The per-app dropdowns (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint) appear disabled or greyed out
- Selecting Reset all co-editing options will revert any local choice to the value set by the admin
- The behavior seen on double-click is the value the admin chose — users won't be able to override it locally
If users need a different policy than what's enforced, they should contact their Egnyte administrator. Admin-side controls are documented in Configure Co-Editing for Microsoft Office Desktop.
Co-editing on Desktop App Core for Mac
Default flow: double-click
In Finder, navigate to the Egnyte mount and double-click the file. What happens next depends on the policy for that Office app:
- With "Always co-edit" or "Default" (when the admin default is co-edit): The file opens in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and joins the co-editing session immediately. Users see other participants' avatars appear in the top-right corner of the Office window within a few seconds.
-
With "Ask": Users will be given a prompt with options on how to interact with the file:
- Co-edit in Word Desktop: opens the file in Word and joins or starts a co-editing session
- Lock and work on your own: opens the file in Word and locks it to the user so no one else can edit it until they close it
-
Check Always perform this action for Microsoft Word to remember the choice and skip the prompt next time. This effectively switches policy for that app to Always co-edit or Never co-edit, depending on which button was picked
The Please make sure you add Egnyte as a storage service in the Microsoft app notice in this prompt means the one-time Office sign-in hasn't been completed. See Configure Co-Editing for Microsoft Office Desktop for the steps.
- With "Never co-edit": The file opens locked to the user — same as the legacy single-editor behavior. To co-edit in this mode users need to start the session manually using the steps below.
Starting Co-editing Manually (When Policy is "Never co-edit")
If the policy is set to Never co-edit but user specifically want to start a shared session on one file, use the Egnyte Actions menu:
- In Finder, right-click (or Control-click) the Office file.
- At the bottom of the context menu, click More Egnyte Actions…
- The Egnyte Actions panel opens. Hover over Edit and choose Word Desktop (or Word Online to co-edit in the browser instead).
- The file opens in Word and the co-editing session starts, regardless of the default policy for that app.
Starting from the Egnyte Web UI
- Access the Egnyte domain in a browser (<Egnyte domain name>.egnyte.com).
- Navigate to the file.
- Click the three-dot menu next to the file name and choose Edit in Word Desktop.
- The browser hands off to the local Office app and starts the co-editing session.
Co-editing on Desktop App for Windows
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the Egnyte drive and double-click the file. What happens next depends on the policy for that Office app. Please refer to Co-editing Access from Desktop App section for details about policy settings.
Starting co-editing manually (when policy is "Never co-edit")
- In Explorer, right-click the Office file.
- At the bottom of the context menu, click Show More Options.
- Select Co-edit in Word Desktop or hover over Open with to choose between Word Desktop and Word Online.
Joining a Session that's Already in Progress
If a team member is already editing the file, users don't need to do anything different — double-clicking joins the existing session (subject to the policy). With the Ask policy, the prompt notes that a session is already in progress and offers to open the file in read-only mode or join the co-editing session.
Other participants will see the user’s avatar appear in the upper-right corner of the Office app within a few seconds of joining the session.
Closing a Session
- To leave: Close the file. Changes are saved automatically
- To end the session for everyone: All participants must close the file. The last person to close releases the lock and the final version is committed to Egnyte
For files being co-edited, it might take up to 35 minutes (usually, much faster - just a few minutes) to automatically unlock upon everyone leaving the co-editing session.
Troubleshooting
Double-clicking Doesn't Start Co-editing
- Check the co-edit policy under Configure → Co-editing app defaults. If the relevant app is set to Never co-edit, the file will open locally locked. To fix this:
- Switch the policy to Always co-edit or
- Use the right-click → More Egnyte Actions… → Open with or Edit menu for a one-time co-edit session
- If the policy dropdowns are greyed out, the admin has locked the policy for the organization — contact them if a different setting change is needed
- Confirm Egnyte is connected as a storage service inside the Office app. If it isn't, follow Configure Co-Editing for Microsoft Office Desktop to complete the one-time sign-in.
The Co-edit Options Don't Appear in the Right-click Menu
- Confirm whether admin has enabled Microsoft Office Desktop under Apps & Integrations
- On Mac, restart the Egnyte Desktop App if Finder integrations haven't loaded
- User may not have edit permission on the file or folder
Save As to Egnyte Doesn't Trigger Co-editing
If a user uses Office's Save As to write a file directly to the Desktop App drive, co-editing won't initiate on that file immediately. Close it and re-open it from Finder or Explorer to start a session. This is a Microsoft Office limitation.
User Wants to Reset all their Per-app Preferences
In Configure → Co-editing app defaults, click Reset all co-editing options in the top-right. This clears any per-app overrides and reverts everything to Default (the value set by the admin for the organization).
Related articles
- Configure Co-Editing for Microsoft Office Desktop
- Co-Edit Using the Microsoft Office Online
- Importing Credentials from Desktop App for Microsoft Co-Editing
- Switching From Microsoft Co-Editing (Legacy) to New Microsoft Office Desktop Co-Editing Integration
- Microsoft Co-Editing with External Users
- Co-Editing with Microsoft Office on Egnyte Mobile Apps
- FAQs for Co-Editing with Microsoft Office Online and Google Workspace on Egnyte