Tip #08: Control how collaborators view and edit your documents in Writer.

Tip #08: Control how collaborators view and edit your documents in Writer.

Co-authoring tools in Writer are designed to help you take ownership of your work, even when it goes through collaborators for multiple levels of review. As the owner of the document, you can control everything from viewing, editing to locking your work or even a part of it from collaborators.


 
Here are the different ways Writer can help you stay in control of your collaborative process.

 
1. Lock content

Say you've finalized just one part of your document, but want to share the document with users for their input on the remaining part. You can lock your finalized part to prevent edits from collaborators while keeping the rest of the document free for any changes.
 
To do this, go to Review and click on the Lock Content icon from the top of the editor. A drop down will open. To lock a content that you've selected, click on Lock Selected Content and to lock the unselected content while keeping the selected portion unlocked, click on Lock Unselected Content.


Lock Selected Content



Lock Unselected Content



Apart from locking content from all your collaborators, Writer also lets you give editing access to specific users while locking the content for others. This comes in handy when your document contains information that you don't want all your collaborators to edit.
 
To do this, go to Review and click on the Lock Content icon from the top of the editor. From the drop down that opens, click on Advanced Options. Now choose whether you want to lock the selected or unselected content from your collaborators and then type in only the names of the collaborators to whom you want to grant editing access.


 
Click  here  to learn more.



2. Mask content

You can mask sensitive information from collaborators without affecting the original document. This way, the masked content will not be revealed to your collaborators while sharing the document. To do this, go to  Review and click on the  Mask Content icon from the top of the editor. Now insert the content you want to mask from your collaborators. 


 
Click  here  to learn more.


 
 3. Mark as final

Once you've discussed your work with collaborators and finalized it, you can mark the document as final. This will lock the document, preventing any more edits from collaborators. To do this, select Distribute from the top right of the editor and then click on Mark as Final. 


 
Click  here  to learn more.



4. Turn on/off Collaboration 

Still editing the document yourself? Mask your edits from collaborators by turning off Collaboration. Once you're done editing the document, you can reveal your final draft by turning On Collaboration mode. This will avoid any editing overlaps from multiple users. To do this, go to Review and switch ON/OFF Collaboration from the top of the editor. 

Turn On Collaboration




Turn Off Collaboration


 
​ Click  here  to learn more.





Happy writing!





Found this helpful? Subscribe to  Writer Community  for more tips and tricks.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 







      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • 8 Neat Tricks in Writer You Should Know About

            Want to get the most out of Writer and speed up your work? You've come to the right place. We've compiled some productive shortcuts in Writer that can help you get work done more quickly: 1. Look up synonyms   No more need for a bulky thesaurus! Use Writer's synonym suggestions to explore different word choices, and find the one that fits your style and tone the best. All you have to do is right-click on a word, and select Synonyms from the dropdown list.  2. Insert images, tables and more   Typing
          • Tip #26: Filter your records before merging a document

            Tom is an HR executive who has to send onboarding emails every month to newly joined employees. He has a master spreadsheet with all the employee details, and new employees are added to them as they join. It's the month of March and Tom has to send onboarding emails to employees who've joined this month. But, how is Tom going to go through a big spreadsheet with multiple new and past information, and send onboarding emails to the set of newly joined employees?     Simple, by filtering and merging
          • Tip: #11 Collaboratively fill documents with your colleagues and clients

            Last week we talked about how Fillable Fields can help you create contracts and proposal templates you can repurpose across your processes. This week, we'll talk in detail about how to collaboratively fill those templates with your clients and team.    Say you've entered into a contract with multiple clients but the final contract amount is still under negotiation. Using fillable fields, partners can quote their contract fee directly in the template document without affecting other areas of the document. You
          • Tip #07: Five best defaults in Writer you can change to complement the way you work

            Find yourself adjusting settings to the way you like every time you create a new document? Try tweaking the default settings instead.  From font styles to auto correct options and more, here are the five best defaults settings you can control.   1. Default font style   Use your favorite typography across all your documents. You can customize a font style by adding a color, adjusting its size and more, and then set it as default.    To do this, go to More Options > Format > Font. Choose a font style
          • Tip #06: Make the best use of Zia in Writer

            About to share your work with your team? Looking to get a second opinion quickly before that? Let Zia do it.    Zia, Zoho's AI-powered intelligent assistant is now part of Writer. She's trained to check and polish your work. She doesn't just read, she understands. So apart from grammar and spelling checks, she'll let you know when you've used a wrong adjective, or have missed out words based on the context of your piece.   Every time you write, Zia makes a scorecard after carefully assessing your

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Adding Overlays to Live Stream

                                    Hello folks, The company I work for will host an online event through Zoho Webinar. I want to add an overlay (an image) at the bottom of the screen with all the sponsors' logos. Is it possible to add an image as an overlay during the live stream? If so,
                                  • Email Sending Failed - SMTP Error: data not accepted. - WHMCS Not sending emails due to this error

                                    I have been trying to figure out a fix for about a week now and I haven't found one on my own so I am going to ask for help on here.  After checking all the settings and even resetting my password for the email used for WHMCS it still says: Email Sending Failed - SMTP Error: data not accepted.  I have no clue how to fix it at this point. Any insight would be lovely. 
                                  • Zoho Flow - Update record in Trackvia

                                    Hello, I have a Flow that executes correctly but I only want it to execute once when a particular field on a record is updated in TrackVia. I have the trigger filters setup correctly and I want to add an "update record" action at the end of the flow to
                                  • Add Comprehensive Accessibility Features to Zoho Desk Help Center for End Users

                                    Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance the client-facing Help Center in Zoho Desk with comprehensive accessibility features, similar to those already available on the agent interface. 🎯 Current
                                  • Zoho CRM mobile: Support for rich text in multi-line fields, Image upload field, and more

                                    Hello everyone, We've made a few enhancements to the Zoho CRM mobile app to improve your experience. Here's what's new: Rich text support for multi-line fields (iOS) Image upload field support (iOS and Android) Tool tip markdown (iOS) Rich text support
                                  • Rename Record Summary PDF in SendMail task

                                    So I've been tasked with renaming a record summary PDF to be sent as part of a sendmail task. Normally I would offer the manual solution, a user exports the PDF and uploads it to a file upload field, however this is not acceptable to the client in this
                                  • in zoho creator Sales Returns form has sub form Line Items return quantity when i upate the or enter any values in the sub form that want to reflect in the Sales Order form item deail sub form field Q

                                    in zoho creator Sales Returns form has sub form Line Items return quantity when i upate the or enter any values in the sub form that want to reflect in the Sales Order form item deail sub form field Quantity Returned\ pls check the recording fetch_salesorder
                                  • Estimates with options and sub-totals

                                    Hi It seems it would be great to be able to show multiple options in an estimate. For instance I have a core product to which I can add options, and maybe sub-options... It would be great to have subtotals and isolate the core from the not compulsory items. Thanks
                                  • Optional Items Estimate

                                    How do you handle optional items within an estimate? In our case we have only options to choose with. (Like your software pricing, ...standard, professional, enterprise) How can we disable the total price? Working with Qty = 0 is unprofessional....
                                  • Important Update : Zendesk Sell announced End of Life

                                    Hello Zendesk users, Zendesk has officially announced that Zendesk Sell will reach its End of Life (EOL) on August 31, 2027 (Learn more). In line with this deprecation, Zoho Analytics will retire its native Zendesk Sell connector effective October 1,
                                  • Zoho Sheets

                                    Hi, I am trying to transition into Zoho sheets, I have attached the issues encountered. Server issues, file trying to upload for more than 30 mins, even once uploaded my data aren't loaded. Simple calculations are not working I have attached the sample.
                                  • Zoho CRM + Zoho FSM : alignez vos équipes commerciales et techniques

                                    La vente est finalisée, mais le parcours client ne fait que commencer ! Dans les entreprises orientées service, conclure une vente représente seulement la première étape. Ce qui suit — installation, réparation ou maintenance régulière — influence grandement
                                  • Top Bar Shifting issue still not fixed yet

                                    I mentioned in a previous ticket that on Android, the top bar shifts up when you view collections or when you're in the settings. That issue still hasn't been fixed yet. I don't wanna have to reinstall the app as I've noticed for some reason, reinstalling
                                  • Power of Automation:: Automate the process of updating project status based on a specific task status.

                                    Hello Everyone, Today, I am pleased to showcase the capabilities of a custom function that is available in our Gallery. To explore the custom functions within the Gallery, please follow the steps below. Click Setup in the top right corner > Developer
                                  • Billing Management: #3 Billing Unbilled Charges Periodically

                                    We had a smooth sail into Prorated Billing, a practice that ensures fairness when customers join, upgrade, or downgrade a service at any point during the billing cycle. But what happens when a customer requests additional limits or features during the
                                  • No bank feeds from First National Bank South Africa since 12 September

                                    I do not know how Zoho Books expects its customers to run a business like this. I have contacted Zoho books numerous times about this and the say it is solved - on email NO ONE ANSWERS THE SOUTH AFRICAN HELP LINE Come on Zoho Books, you cannot expect
                                  • Citation Problem

                                    I had an previous ticket (#116148702) on this subject. The basic problem is this; the "Fetch Details" feature works fine on the first attempt but fails on every subsequent attempt, Back in July after having submitted information electronically and was
                                  • Failing to generate Access and Refresh Token

                                    Hello.  I have two problems: First one when generating Access and Refresh Token I get this response:  As per the guide here : https://www.zoho.com/books/api/v3/#oauth (using server based application) I'm following all the steps. I have managed to get
                                  • Zeptomail 136.143.188.150 blocked by SpamCop

                                    Hi - it looks like this IP is being blocked, resulting in hard bounces unfortunately :( "Reason: uncategorized-bounceMessage: 5.7.1 Service unavailable; Client host [136.143.188.150] blocked using bl.spamcop.net; Blocked - see https://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?136.143.188.150
                                  • Apply transaction rules to multiple banks

                                    Is there any way to make transaction rules for one bank apply to other banks? It seems cumbersome to have to re-enter the same date for every account.
                                  • How to bulk update records with Data Enrichment by Zia

                                    Hi, I want to bulk update my records with Data Enrichment by Zia. How can I do this?
                                  • How do I split a large CSV file into smaller parts for import into Zoho?

                                    Hi everyone, I’m trying to upload a CSV file into Zoho, but the file is very large (millions of rows), and Zoho keeps giving me errors or takes forever to process. I think the file size is too big for a single import. Manually breaking the CSV into smaller
                                  • Client Script Payload Size Bug

                                    var createParams = { "data": [{ "Name": "PS for PR 4050082000024714556", "Price_Request": { "id": "4050082000024714556" }, "Account": { "id": "4050082000021345001" }, "Deal": { "id": "4050082000023972001" }, "Owner": { "id": "4050082000007223004" }, "Approval_Status":
                                  • lead convert between modules

                                    Hello, The workflow we set up to automatically transfer leads registered via Zapier into the Patients module to the Leads module started to malfunction unexpectedly on September 25, 2025, at 11:00 AM. Under normal circumstances, all fields filled in the
                                  • Flow Task Limits - How to Monitor, Understand Consumption?

                                    So, I got an email last night saying that I've exhausted 70% of my tasks for this month, and encouraging me to buy more tasks. I started to dig into this, and I cannot for the life of me figure out where to find any useful information for understanding,
                                  • Cross References Do Not Update Correctly

                                    I am using cross references to reference Figures and current am just using the label and number, i.e. Figure #. As seen here: When I need to update the field, I use the update field button. But it will change the cross reference to no longer only including
                                  • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

                                    Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions
                                  • How to Track and Manage Schedule Changes in Zoho Projects

                                    Keeping projects on track requires meticulous planning. However, unforeseen circumstances can cause changes to schedules, leading to delays. It becomes important to capture the reason for such changes to avoid them in the future. Zoho Projects acknowledges
                                  • Is there a notification API when a new note is addeding

                                    Trying to push to Cliq, or email notification when there's a new note added in module. How to implement this?
                                  • Collaborate Feature doesn't work

                                    Hello Team. It seems that the collaborate section is broken? I can post something but it all appears in "Discussions". In there is no way how I would mark something as Draft, Approval, post or any of the other filter categories? Also if I draft a post
                                  • Edit Permission during and after approval?

                                    When a record is sent for approval Can a user request for edit permission from the approver? We don't want to give edit permissions for all the records under approval Only on a case-by-case basis How can we achieve this?
                                  • Zoho web and mobile application not workingn

                                    Both zoho forms web and mobile application aren't working. I have checked my network connections and they are fine.
                                  • Bulk Moving Images into Folders in the Library

                                    I can't seem to select multiple images to move into a folder in order to clean up my image library and organize it. Instead, I have to move each individual image into the folder and sometimes it takes MULTIPLE tries to get it to go in there. Am I missing
                                  • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Breakout rooms and End to end encryption

                                    Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates for Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Introducing Breakout Rooms for enhanced collaboration in your online meetings and End-to-end encryption to ensure that the data is encrypted
                                  • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

                                    Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due
                                  • Accidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?

                                    Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?
                                  • How to access email templates using Desk API?

                                    Trying to send an email to the customer associated to the ticket for an after hours notification and can't find the API endpoint to grab the email template. Found an example stating it should be: "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/emailtemplates/" + templateID;
                                  • Update Portal User Name using Deluge?

                                    Hey everyone. I have a basic intake form that gathers some general information. Our team then has a consultation with the person. If the person wants to move forward, the team pushes a CRM button that adds the user to a creator portal. That process is
                                  • Unable to retrieve Contact_Name field contents using Web API in javascript function

                                    Hello, I've added a field in the Purchase Order form to select and associate a Sales Order (Orden_de_venta, lookup field). I've also created a client script to complete some fields from the Sales Order (and the Quote), when the user specifies the related
                                  • Updating Woocommerce Variation Products Prices Via Zoho CRM

                                    I can update product prices with this flow: But I can't update variant products. I got a code from Zoho for this, but I couldn't get it to work. It needs to find the product in the CRM from the SKU field and update the variation with the price there.
                                  • Next Page