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Guide to enabling coauthoring in Box for Microsoft Office

End User , Box Platform , Article , Established , Instruction , Integration , Microsoft - Office

Box for Microsoft Office coauthoring enables real-time coauthoring on Office desktop, web, and mobile. You can simultaneously edit and collaborate on Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files on desktop in real-time, with all changes automatically saved to your Box account. 

This complements our existing integration with Office Online, enabling you and your team to coauthor Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents in Box whether they are working in Office on desktop or web — with all edits automatically saved back to Box.

Coauthoring is available for the following:

Platforms:

  • Desktop app (Box Drive and Office desktop apps)
  • Web app (Box.com and Office for the web)
  • Mobile apps (Box iOS and Android apps and Office mobile apps for iOS and Android) - coming soon

Operating Systems:

  • macOS (v11.5 and above)
  • Windows operating system (10 and above)
  • iOS & Android (coming soon)

Note:
Box’s general support policy for operating systems and browsers apply for this feature

Office subscriptions:

  • Office 365 apps only

* Supported Office channel(s)

  • Windows
    • Current channel minimum version: 16.0.16626.20170
    • Monthly enterprise channel minimum version: 16.0.16529.20226
    • Semi-Annual channel minimum version: 16.0.16130.20714
  • Mac
    • Current channel minimum version: 16.60.410.0
    • Monthly channel minimum version: n/a
    • Semi-Annual channel minimum version: n/a

* Perpetual licenses (e.g., Office 2016, 2019 etc.) not supported.

 

Applications:

  • Microsoft Word,
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft PowerPoint

 

Technical Prerequisites:

  • Supported Office update channel(s)
    • Microsoft’s Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, and Semi-Annual for Office 365 updates (latest releases)
  • If using Box Drive (not required), v2.26 or above.
  • If using Mac devices and Box Drive, Mac OS 11.5 or above.

 

 

Feature Enablement

To start coauthoring, add Box as an online storage location from within the Microsoft Office desktop app. Follow these steps for your specific operating system

Windows

  1. From Microsoft Word / Excel / PowerPoint, click on File menu option.
  2. On the left navigation pane, click Open
  3. Click on Add a Place
  4. Select Box

Windows Office Word Open Box.png

  1. Select Single Sign-On (SSO)

Windows Gif - CoAuth Enablement-122 (dragged).png

  1. Sign in with your Box credentials

 

Mac

  1. From Microsoft Word / Excel / PowerPoint, click File -> New from Template
  2. On the left navigation pane, click Open
  3. Click Manage Storage Accounts
  4. Select Box

Mac Gif - CoAuth Enablement 3-113 (dragged).png

  1. Select Single Sign-On (SSO)

Mac Gif - CoAuth Enablement 3-133 (dragged).png

  1. Sign in with your Box credentials

 

Support

For additional help or support related questions, visit the following support page: Support for Box for Microsoft Office Coauthoring – Box Support

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