Share via

Synchronisation issues when co-authoring with Desktop, Web and Teams versions of Office

Anonymous
2024-01-12T09:49:48+00:00

Hi all,

My organisation has been repeatedly experiencing lost work when multiple people were collaborating on one file at the same time, using different versions of Excel, Word, or Powerpoint. Some people are working from Windows operating systems, while others use MacOS. Also, some people work with the Desktop versions of the said office programs, yet others use the web versions, and still others accessed the files through Teams.

Sometimes, though not consistently, changes made by one collaborating person were not saved, however. We do not recognise any patterns for when these problems occur, but we suspect that they originate from using different versions of Office. Yet all my colleagues' Office versions support co-authoring.

Could you please recommend solutions for fixing this problem? We are thinking about establishing a company-wide rule to only edit documents using one version of Office (e.g. the web version). A few people around the internet suggest that the Office web-apps have better synchronisation, similar to Google Docs and Sheets. Can you confirm this?

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

Konrad

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Other

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous
2024-01-12T14:03:38+00:00

Hello Konrad,

Thanks for your time and patience. I will help you further.

I understand that you are experiencing synchronization issues when co-authoring with different versions of Office on different devices. I'm sorry to hear that you are having this problem.

I recommend that you ensure that all users are using the latest version of Office. This will help to ensure that everyone is using the same version of the software, which can help to prevent synchronization issues.

Additionally, you may want to consider using the Office web apps for co-authoring. The web apps are designed to work seamlessly with each other, regardless of the operating system or device being used. This can help to ensure that everyone is working on the same version of the document, and that changes are saved and synchronized in real-time.

I hope this information helps.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be glad to help you further.

Thanks for your time and understanding!

We hope you have a nice day. Stay safe and healthy always.

Sincerely,

Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments

1 additional answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-12T12:15:42+00:00

    Dear Konrad,

    Good day!

    Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist. We are looking into your situation and we will update the thread shortly.

    Appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your time and cooperation.

    Sincerely,

    Tina | Microsoft Community Moderator

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments