Can I use MS Office 2021 (desktop app) & SharePoint 2019 (Onprem) to co-author Excel files?

Question

Hello!

I have SharePoint 2019 (onprem) and Excel files in the document library. Can I co-author Excel files with SharePoint 2019 (on-premises) using the desktop Excel app, or do I need to upload my excel files to SharePoint Online or OneDrive to use the co-authoring feature?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi @Anonymous ,

I suggest you could upload the files directly in SharePoint Online. Co-Authoring is a default feature in SharePoint Online that allows multiple users to edit and collaborate on documents in real time. This means that when multiple users edit one document, whether it’s on Word, Excel or PowerPoint, the changes made by each user will be reflected to everyone else who is using the document at that time.

To co-author with others, you need:

1. A shared storage area.
2. Apps that support co-authoring. Word and PowerPoint support co-authoring on all devices and versions that are more recent than Office 2010 support. The Excel mobile apps and the latest version of Excel for Microsoft 365 also supported co-authoring.
3. A co-authoring friendly document, as co-authoring is only supported on modern file formats such as .docx (Word), .pptx (PowerPoint), and .xlsx (Excel).
4. Edit permissions for co-authors in order to access and edit the documents.

If you want to co-author in SharePoint Server, I have found this official article for your reference:
Overview of co-authoring in SharePoint Server

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