Locking prevents multiple collaborators from editing the same multichannel post at the same time. When a post is locked, only one user can edit it until the lock is released.

Collaboration allows multiple users to work on the same multichannel post by sharing editing and publishing duties for that specific item. Understand the basics of collaboration in Collaborating on Multichannel posts.

How locking works

Only one collaborator can edit a multichannel post at a time. This means:

• A multichannel post is automatically locked when a user opens it in edit mode, provided no other collaborator is working on it at that moment.
• While a post is locked, other collaborators can view it in a locked mode but cannot make edits.

This ensures that changes are not overwritten by multiple editors.

If a post remains open in the Studio editor by the same collaborator for 4 hours, the lock is automatically removed. This prevents posts from staying locked indefinitely.

Force‑unlock a post

If a post is locked but needs to be edited, any collaborator can manually remove the lock.

1. Open a post that you are authoring with collaborators. If it's currently being edited by another user, you'll see a "This post is currently being edited by user_name" message at the top.
2. To unlock the post, select Unlock in the top right corner. You can also choose to Close the editor and allow the user to keep editing.
3. Confirm the action by selecting Unlock.

Force‑unlocking immediately releases the post, and the user currently editing it will be forced out of their edit session. Any edits to the content and settings they made will be preserved.

We recommend using force‑unlock only when necessary, such as when a post needs urgent updates and is blocked by a lock.