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New G Suite Update that Helps Avoid Version Conflicts on Drive Edits

New G Suite Update that Helps Avoid Version Conflicts on Drive Edits

Have you ever lost useful information and hard-worked content because the system didn’t show you the document was being edited by someone else at the same time?


Whenever you open a Microsoft Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or any other formats) shared in Drive, you always run the risk of other people doing the same thing from a different location. Now, as you add your work to the document, if one of the other persons saves theirs first, this will create a version conflict. Of course, the more people working on the same document, the chances for several version conflicts increase.


With the new update (which only works with the Drive File Stream) Drive will notify you if other users work on the document you just opened. It will do this, by displaying a tiny pop-up message saying either ‘Safe to Edit’, ‘Wait to edit’, or ‘New Version Created’.


The first message shows no one else is on the same document, which the second one prompts you to wait until the current user finishes edits. Once you see the ‘new version’ message, it means the user completed their work and saved, so you should reload the document.


What Happens when Conflict Shows Up?


While this update is pretty effective at notifying people about possible version conflicts, it doesn’t stop someone from editing at the same time. So, if a person happens and misses the message displayed by the new Drive version, a conflict of versions will happen.


But the update brought a solution to this situation as well. Drive, will display the two versions and the changes that were made. This way, you can merge all the new versions in one document, and no information will be lost.


You Need Drive File Stream


If you have G Suite, but the Drive File Stream app is not a part of your IT operating process, you will need to set this up, see instructions here. If you do a lot of collaborative work and have teams working on projects from remote locations, File Drive Stream is a great boost for your team’s productivity.
So, if you’re tired of comparing versions or losing important information to innocent mistakes, make sure to ask your G Suite administrator to make all the necessary arrangements.


If you don’t have a specific person covering this aspect, call the team at Onsite Helper! We have people specialized in working with G Suite and we can help you update your system in no time!

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