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

Collaboration allows multiple users to work on the same email newsletter by sharing editing and publishing duties for that specific item. Understand the basics of collaboration in Collaborating on email newsletters.

How locking works

Only one collaborator can edit an email newsletter at a time. This means:

• An email newsletter is automatically locked when a user opens it in edit mode, provided no other collaborator is working on it at that moment.
• While a newsletter 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 newsletter remains open in the Studio editor by the same collaborator for 4 hours, the lock is automatically removed. This prevents newsletters from staying locked indefinitely.

Force‑unlock a newsletter

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

1. Open a newsletter that you are authoring with collaborators. If it's currently being edited by another user, you'll see a "This newsletter is currently being edited by user_name" message at the top.
2. To unlock the newsletter, 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 newsletter, 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 newsletter needs urgent updates and is blocked by a lock.