Locked for Editing fixes don't work

[jjpackard56]

I have searched and read and tried several posts and solutions in this forum to overcome my "Locked for editing" problem, to no avail. This happens on several of my documents (all created by me, on my own laptop), even with documents I was able to edit in the past. I run on Windows 10 Home. I've gone into the directory depths to delete any files in "(C:)/Users/xxxxx/App Data/Roaming/OpenOffice/4" that were recommended for deletion. I've tried renaming OpenOffice (suggested in another forum). I also downloaded the OpenOffice update; same problem in OpenOffice 4.1.6 as in the previous version. I'm a home user, not a techie, but I'm not stupid. I just want to be able to reliably open AND EDIT my own darn files. If no one has any suggestions beyond "those files are irreparably corrupted," I'm switching to LibreOffice. Any suggestions?

[thomasjk]

You most likely have leftover ~lock.filename temporary files. Look for them in the same directory where you normally save your files. Delete them and it should solve your problem. These files sometime get left behind if there is a crash. Normally they are deleted when the file is closed properly.

[FJCC]

I expect you files are seen as Locked for Editing because the .~lock files have not been properly deleted when OpenOffice closed. First shutdown OpenOffice. Go to the folder where your files are stored. Click on the View menu at the top of the window and in the Show/Hide region select the Hidden Items box. The image below shows how this looks in my Documents folder.

Now look in the folder for files whose name starts with .~lock. Delete these files. These files should be automatically deleted when you close a document but they may not be if there is a system or application crash. If the problem reappears, we will have to figure out the root cause.

[jjpackard56]

Looked for .~lock files already, before I downloaded 4.1.6. Found one such file (with .~lock) and deleted it. Rebooted, downloaded update, etc.; still same problem. Checked again just now, via the path I'd been given before: C/Users/[my user name]/AppData/Roaming/OpenOffice/4/user/backup. Found no more .~lock files. So I went back and searched the C drive for .~lock, and got a long list, not with .~lock in the file name, but with LOCK above each file name (see screen shot, and full name of first file, where I hovered the cursor); I don't think this has anything to do with .~lock, but what do I know. Further ideas?

[RusselB]

Those LOCK files shown in your screenshot are the names of the files.
What do you get if you do a search for .~lock.*
That should force Windows to show just the files that have ~lock at the beginning of the file name, rather than showing all files with lock in the name
Please note that `lock files can be in any directory that a file was opened from.

[RoryOF]

Note that the Forum software tweaks the coding of lock files. The lock file for tom.odt is actually

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

.~lock.tom.odt#

Note the tilde instead of a dash. To see such files one needs to enable viewing of hidden and archive files. How this is done varies according to your operating system

[jjpackard56]

Searched as suggested by RusselB for .~lock.* and got only 6 files, but they're all .png files, nothing in OpenOffice (see screen shot). No clue what these are, as hovering gives me no full file name, and clicking on one gives me basically a blank screen (this forum's format won't let me add a second screen shot). In any case, no progress on "locked for editing" issue on OpenOffice files. RoryOF -- did not receive your full post.

[RoryOF]

Note that the Forum software tweaks the coding of lock files. The lock file for tom.odt is actually

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

.~lock.tom.odt#

Note the tilde instead of a dash. To see such files one needs to enable viewing of hidden and archive files. How this is done varies according to your operating system.

[jjpackard56]

Thanks, RoryOF, but I now get this (did note the tilde from the outset of this process).

[RoryOF]

Of course you get nothing found - you most probably have no file tom.odt on your computer. I suggest you search for

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

.~lock.


This should catch any lock files from OpenOffice.

[jjpackard56]

Already checked for .~lock. No joy.

[RoryOF]

In the root of your OpenOffice user profile there may be a file .lock (exactly so, nothing else); this can be left after a program crash or an over-hasty shut down of OO. If there is such a file, delete it.

[jjpackard56]

"In the root of your OpenOffice user profile" is Greek to me, RoryOF. Is there some way I should be getting at that other than: C/Users/[my user name]/AppData/Roaming/OpenOffice/4/user/backup ??

[RoryOF]

A .lock file may live in the folder under the 4, that is, beside the user folder in the path you quote.

[jjpackard56]

Nothing else here....

[robleyd]

Look in 4 as RoryOF suggested

[jjpackard56]

Nothing else in 4 (see prior screenshot), nothing else in user (see this screenshot).

[robleyd]

Just so you know for future reference - the last screenshot above is the contents of

C:\Users\Jennifer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4

and shows no lock file; however it is not clear whether you have enabled viewing of hidden files in Windows Explorer. If that is not enabled, the file will not be seen notwithstanding that it may exist.

[Bill]

The error message says that the document is locked for editing by "Unknown User". Bitdefender Ransomware protection has been reported to cause this message. If a lock file is causing the problem, then the user name should be displayed.

[FJCC]

Why is the OP looking for lock files in the user profile folder path, C:\Users\Jennifer\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4? The lock file will be in the folder containing the document, probably the Documents folder or one of its sub folders.
It is possible for a document to be in the backup folder of the user profile, but I don't see any evidence that is what the OP is dealing with.

[RoryOF]

There can be a lock file, of form .lock (exactly that) beside the user folder of the OO User profile; I don't know what it does - it has slightly different content to the standard lock file in the file directory. I have seen where this .lock file was left after an improper close of OO. As the OP is having such problems finding the reason for files not being editable, I directed her to look for this file also.

[Bill]

A lock file in the user profile should produce a different message similar to "user settings are locked".

There is another report that Avast Ransomware Shield can cause the "unknown user" error message.

[jjpackard56]

To answer several comments: as far as I know, I have enabled search for Hidden Files; have searched the entire C drive for .lock (and .~lock. , and .~lock.*), and have looked in all my folders in which I may have saved an OpenOffice document in the past year and a half (when I first started using OO) for any variation of "lock." One of you suggested a bug emanating from Avast Ransomware Shield; I do use Avast, so does anyone have a suggestion on fixing Avast's interference? LibreOffice looking better and better; anyone use that?

[Bill]

It's probably not a bug in Ransomware Shield. The user has to configure Ransomware Shield. A Google search for Avast Ransomware Shield found these instructions:

Ransomware Shield - Getting Started