How to use Excel with SharePoint co-authoring successfully for your business?

Businesses have been working on managing documents for decades, and a small mistake can easily affect performance. With the bulk of information, it is vital to store and organize the data with the help of various online tools.

The SharePoint Co-authoring feature makes life easier. Do you deal with documents that must be managed by multiple users simultaneously? Or work on a single data with multiple users in real-time?

What is SharePoint Co-authoring?

It is a feature that allows multiple users to work on a document without interfering with each other’s tasks. This helps the organizations avoid any unintentional changes in the data and share them hassle-free.

As an owner, you do not require any extra server setup as the documents are stored on the SharePoint server by default. Users will be using the same technology and tools that SharePoint uses.

Microsoft has allowed using the co-authoring feature in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Visio with the help of a configured SharePoint server.

What are the different cases for SharePoint Co-Authoring?

• Two or more authors will work on different segments of a single document. The author can work on one segment and another author on the other segment without interrupting anyone’s work.
• A document can be sent to several users and stakeholders where each of them gets unique permissions based on their work. With the help of versions, you get to save multiple scenarios as SharePoint helps to work in a centralized manner where each version is stored for later usage.
• Multiple authors work on Excel and edit them together. Instead of maintaining separate Excel sheets and merging them later, which might increase the chances of facing errors.

Why should you consider SharePoint for co-authoring on Excel?

The co-authoring functionality is designed to apply minimal efforts while managing documents. There are various things that you must take care of are:

• Permissions: Every user who wants to edit a document requires specific permissions from the document library where documents are stored. The easiest method is to give all the users the accessibility to the SharePoint site where the records will be held. This means your data is highly secure, and each user has specific permission to work on them.
• Number of Versions: The number of versions of a document can affect the storage requirements on the server. Set this number in the document library settings to a certain limitation. This ensures unnecessary disk space and sets the maximum number of versions to a reasonable number in the libraries.
• Check Out: Once a user checks out a document for editing, it is locked for the user. Do not enable the Require Check Out feature from the document libraries in the co-authoring. The Require Check Out feature is not enabled by default in the SharePoint server.
• Versioning Period: This determines the interval of creating a version of your document in the SharePoint server. Setting this low value means capturing more performances and having detailed version tracking.

How to collaborate on Excel with the help of SharePoint Co-Authoring?

You are your colleagues have the freedom to work on the same Excel workbook with the help of Co-authoring feature. When you co-author, you will be able to view the changes quickly in real-time. If you have a version of Excel that supports co-authoring, you can share it through the email address and save it on a cloud location.

Let us look at the SharePoint guide to co-authoring in detail:

1.      Upload the Excel workbook

Use a web browser to create or upload the workbook to SharePoint Online Library. Also, ensure that SharePoint On-Premises sites do not provide co-authoring.

2.      Share It

• If you have uploaded the file, select the filename to open it. The workbook will open in a new tab.
• Choose the Open in Desktop App button.
• Once the file opens in the Excel desktop app, you can see a yellow bar displaying Protected View. Choose the Enable Editing button.
• Choose Share in the top right corner
• By default, all the recipients will be able to perform editing in the workbook. Also, you can change the settings from the can edit option.
• Add an email address in the address box and separate them with a semicolon
• Add a message for your recipients if required
• Select Send

3.      Other people can open the Excel workbook

If you select the Share button, people will get an email message that invites them to open the file. They can choose the link to access the workbook. If you want to access the Excel Workbook for a desktop app to co-author, you can select Edit in Desktop App.

This might require a version of Excel that supports co-authoring. Excel is accessible through Android, iOS, and mobile for co-authoring. Microsoft Excel Certification In Melbourne support makes this process more seamless as you can monitor the changes and modify the content if required.

4.      Co-Authoring with others

If the file is still open, ensure that the AutoSave option is in the top left corner. When others are opening the file, you all will be co-authoring together. You will view pictures in the top panel of the Excel window.

Summing up!

The secret behind a successful SharePoint Co-authoring in Excel is to understand the requirements, and limitations and then execute a plan.

Try investing in user-friendly features that will make your targets achievable effortlessly. Working will multiple users provides high-quality results and a quantity of work in minimal time. This also builds a bond between the colleagues working on a single project.