# Using Collaborative Authoring Collaborative authoring connects Vault to Microsoft 365 to allow multiple users to edit a document at the same time using the Microsoft 365 desktop software or browser apps. Collaborative Authoring can be used with Microsoft Word (\*.docx), Excel (\*.xlsx and \*.xlsm), and PowerPoint (\*.pptx) documents. See FAQ: Collaborative Authoring for a list of frequently asked questions related to using collaborative authoring.
### Demo: Using Collaborative Authoring {#using-collaborative-authoring-demo} This video demonstrates how to edit a document using collaborative authoring and save the changes to Vault. Details ## Starting Collaboration Sessions {#starting-collaboration-session} If a document is compatible with collaborative authoring and you have the appropriate permissions, you will see an **Edit** button above the document. Click **Edit** to start a collaboration session. You can also select **Edit in Microsoft Office** from the document's **Actions** menu. Your browser may prompt you to confirm that you want to open the document. The document opens in Microsoft 365 on your desktop. Keep your Vault browser window open while you edit. Other users with correct permissions can also [join your collaboration session][2] to edit the document at the same time. When another user opens the document, you will see an icon appear in the Microsoft Word menu bar. Click the icon to see where in the document the user is currently editing or to contact that user. If you don't see other users' edits, make sure you're viewing the document in _Print_ view. ## Joining Collaboration Sessions {#join-session} When another user starts a collaboration session on a document, you can join the session and edit the document in Microsoft 365. When you open the document in Vault, a banner at the top of the page states that another user has started Collaborative Authoring and a message appears on the document notifying the user that the document is being edited. Click the **Edit** button in the Collaborative Authoring banner to join the session and see the latest updates. ## Editing Files in your Browser If you don't have Microsoft 365 installed on your computer, you can edit a document with Microsoft 365 in your web browser. Click the question mark icon in the Collaborative Authoring banner and click **open in browser**. In the dialog, click **Continue**. This will set your preference for Microsoft 365 in the browser so that each time you start or join a collaboration session, the document will open in your browser automatically. ## Saving Changes {#saving-changes} When you start a collaboration session to edit a Vault document, the file is stored in a Microsoft 365 shared drive. Changes made by any user who joins the collaboration session are saved to the Microsoft 365 file and are only shown in Vault when you perform either **Save to Vault** or **Check In**. Both actions create a new minor version of the document in Vault. **Save to Vault** allows the collaboration session to continue, whereas **Check In** ends the collaboration session and allows the document to progress through its lifecycle. The following users can perform either **Save to Vault** or **Check In** when multiple users are editing a document: * The user who started the collaboration session, the Document Owner, _Vault Owners_, and users with the _All Document Actions_ permission can use **Check In**. * Users with the _Edit Document_ role-based permission can use the **Save to Vault** action. To **Save to Vault** or **Check In** a document: 1. Save your changes in Microsoft 365. 2. Return to your Vault browser window and click **Save to Vault** or **Check In** from the drop-down in the Collaborative Authoring banner. If you do not see these options, you may not have the appropriate permissions. 3. Optional: In the pop-up dialog, enter a **Version Description**. 4. Click either **Save to Vault** or **Check In** to create a new minor version in Vault. When you **Check In** the document, the collaboration session ends for everyone, so first check whether other users have finished editing the document. Any additional changes made in Microsoft 365 after the **Check In** are not synced with the Microsoft 365 file. If you made further changes to the document after you checked it in, we recommend saving a copy of the file to your desktop.
## Canceling Collaboration Sessions Once a collaboration session has started, users with the appropriate permissions can cancel the session. Canceling the collaboration session ends it for all users, and any changes that haven't been saved to Vault are discarded. To cancel a collaboration session: 1. Close Microsoft 365 and return to your Vault browser window. 2. From the drop-down next to the **Edit in Microsoft Office** () button, select **Cancel Editing** (). 3. Click **Continue** in the Cancel Editing dialog to confirm that you want to cancel the collaboration session without checking in the latest edit version. ## Collaborative Authoring Workflows {#collaborative-authoring-workflows} Incorporating collaborative authoring into configured workflows in Vault provides additional automation and control. Your Admin may configure a collaborative authoring session to automatically start (check out) or end (check in or cancel) via workflow actions and lifecycle states. If so, you don't need to manually check out or check in a document because the collaborative authoring session begins or ends as soon as the document moves to the configured state or action step. When using automatic checkout with a workflow, you can tag workflow participants in the Office 365 file using the @mention functionality, without authors needing to open the document in collaborative authoring first.
## Troubleshooting Collaborative Authoring Errors Users with the _Admin: Logs: Collab Auth Error Logs_ permission can navigate to **Admin > Logs >** **Collaborative Authoring Error Log** to view the Microsoft Graph API errors generated while using collaborative authoring. This permission is enabled automatically for _System Administrators_, _Business Administrators_, and _Vault Owners_. ## Limitations * Microsoft indicates that co-authoring is designed to work for small teams of about five to ten users. Veeva's testing has shown that co-authoring performance varies with the number of users and the size of the document. * Microsoft Word (\*.docx) documents checked out for collaborative authoring do not display annotations made in Vault. * Collaborative authoring does not support macro-enabled Microsoft Word files (\*.docm) * Collaborative authoring supports automatic mentioning through workflows only. If a workflow is not used, you can only @mention users in the file after they have opened the document in collaborative authoring. * Microsoft 365 does not support @mentioning external users (users who are not part of your organization's directory). * When starting a collaborative authoring session using a workflow action and adding workflow participants, Vault can only grant access to up to 15 participants for automatic mentioning. When more than 15 participants are included, none of them will be available for automatic mentioning. ## Related Permissions {#permissions} To participate in collaborative authoring, an Admin must grant you the appropriate permissions. [1]: #permissions [2]: #join-session [3]: #collaborative-authoring-workflows