--- title: "M-Files blog · How-tos and product news from CtrlDocs" url: "https://ctrldocs.com/blog/" language: "en" description: "M-Files how-tos and news from CtrlDocs: dashboards, export to Excel, co-authoring after Office Online Server, Teams governance and EU working-time rules." dateModified: "2026-10-14" --- Blog # Get more out of the M‑Files you have Product news and how-tos for M‑Files users: dashboards, filtered search, co-authoring, Teams governance and time recording. ![CtrlDocs blog article cards](https://ctrldocs.com/img/ppUyLR_U7e-680.svg) ## Latest posts [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/PGanWr0OwF-200.webp) CtrlScout · 8 October 2026 ### Sovereign AI in document and information management What sovereign AI means when the AI reads your document system: where the processing happens, what the model may read, what is kept, and who decides. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/sovereign-ai-for-m-files/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/UxPKs3LISe-200.webp) CtrlTeams · 26 November 2025 ### CtrlTeams: Microsoft Teams governance and compliance Teams is where projects start and files get shared, but it was not built to keep the record. CtrlTeams sets up each new team from a template and keeps its documents in M‑Files. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/ctrlteams-microsoft-teams-governance/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/2t4EGHMkrU-200.webp) CtrlShare · 30 October 2025 ### Co-authoring in M‑Files: Office Online Server retires Microsoft retires Office Online Server on 31 December 2026. M‑Files customers who co-author through it can move to M‑Files Cloud, or co-author through OneDrive with CtrlShare. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/office-online-server-retirement/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/HYOKXfmiE6-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 20 October 2025 ### Easy-to-use filtered search for M‑Files CtrlPortals lets you find governance documents in M‑Files by filtering on their metadata, switch between a chart and a list, and export or share the result. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/filtered-search-for-m-files/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/Xd8b6rQqTn-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 13 October 2025 ### Data visualisation in M‑Files with CtrlPortals CtrlPortals puts dashboards in the M‑Files client. They read the vault and a SQL database live, so workflow counts, overdue items and sales figures need no Excel export. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-dashboards/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/Qfs6Xk1W4C-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 25 September 2025 ### Export data from M‑Files to Excel CtrlPortals exports a filtered list view, or the data behind a plot, to an XLSX file that opens straight in Excel. It is not held back by the item limit on M‑Files' own export. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/export-m-files-to-excel/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/qSRlheaCgb-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 4 September 2025 ### M‑Files as your CRM system Customers, opportunities and the documents behind them already live in the vault. Here is what M‑Files gives you as a CRM, and what CtrlPortals adds on top. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-as-crm/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/6p9i9n83ue-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 4 September 2025 ### How to make M‑Files more user-friendly with CtrlPortals On its own, M‑Files shows a list of records and the details of the one you pick. With CtrlPortals, that screen can also hold metrics, a calendar, comments, and instructions with buttons. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/user-friendly-m-files/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/u5GA70iU0V-200.webp) Announcement · 14 May 2025 ### CtrlDocs: M‑Files Solution Partner of the Year 2025 At the M‑Files IMPACT Global Conference in Athens, M‑Files named CtrlDocs its Solution Partner of the Year 2025. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-solution-partner-of-the-year-2025/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/LAybkN_1tQ-200.webp) CtrlTime · 6 February 2025 ### How to track time and stay compliant in the EU What the European Working Time Directive sets out, why the Court of Justice ruled in 2019 that every EU employer needs a time recording system, and what that system has to do. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/eu-time-tracking-law/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/YM_EucOFNq-200.webp) CtrlTime · 12 January 2024 ### Employee time tracking for remote teams A remote team has no manager across the desk, so it depends on recorded hours. This is what a time tracking system must get right, and how CtrlTime records hours on the M‑Files record the work belongs to. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/employee-time-tracking/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/cRQ4ctwKHJ-200.webp) CtrlPortals · 31 August 2023 ### How CtrlPortals changes collaboration in M‑Files A calendar, threaded comments, dashboards, documents and a knowledge base, all on the same screen as the M‑Files data they belong to. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/ctrlportals-collaboration/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/1gClO2RCnJ-200.webp) Release Notes · 4 April 2023 ### M‑Files March ’23 update: fixes and improvements Our summary of the M‑Files March '23 update: four defect fixes, plus Advanced Outlook Integration, M‑Files Web Companion and a new built-in Share object type. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-march-23-update/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/GPYacnFSMW-200.webp) CtrlShare · 3 March 2023 ### Co-authoring for professional services with CtrlShare Legal and accounting teams write in the Word and Excel desktop apps, but M‑Files lets only one person edit a document at a time. CtrlShare opens the document in OneDrive so the team can co-author it in those same apps. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/co-authoring-for-professional-services/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/GsYitKrJfy-200.webp) Release Notes · 16 January 2023 ### M‑Files January ’23 update: M‑Files 2018 retired What the January '23 update to M‑Files Online changes: Smart Search language analysis, end of life for M‑Files 2018, faster database optimisation and six defect fixes. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-jan-23-update/) [![](https://ctrldocs.com/img/zMxxLaHDnJ-200.webp) Announcement · 9 May 2022 ### The first Danish M‑Files Solution Partner In March 2022 CtrlShare became our first product in the M‑Files Solution Catalog, and CtrlDocs the first official M‑Files Solution Partner in Denmark. Read article](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/first-danish-m-files-partner/)  ## What the posts cover Most posts fall under one of four subjects. The post to start with for each is listed below. ### Dashboards and reporting in M‑Files Charts and lists that read the vault directly, filtered on the fields you already keep. A bar in a chart opens the documents behind it. The posts cover data visualisation with CtrlPortals, filtered lists, and exporting more items to Excel than M‑Files' own export allows. ### Co-authoring and the Office Online Server retirement Microsoft retires Office Online Server on 31 December 2026. M‑Files' own real-time co-authoring is for M‑Files Cloud customers, on SharePoint Embedded. The posts set out the options for a vault that stays on-premise, and how legal and accounting teams co-author in desktop Word and Excel through OneDrive with CtrlShare. ### Microsoft Teams governance and archiving Teams is where projects start and files get shared. The post on CtrlTeams covers teams created from templates in M‑Files and documents kept in M‑Files with their metadata. Written with compliance teams and regulated industries such as pharma and finance in mind, it also covers the audit trail of who accessed and changed what. ### Time recording and the EU working-time rules One post explains what the European Working Time Directive sets out, and why the Court of Justice ruled in 2019 that every EU employer needs a time recording system. The other is about remote teams: what a time tracking system has to get right, and how CtrlTime records hours on the M‑Files record the work belongs to. ## Who writes the posts Each post names its author. Steen Madsen is CtrlDocs' CEO and Frederik Madsen its CTO, and Krystian Biały's byline is on most of the posts. If you want one post per subject, start with [data visualisation in M‑Files](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/m-files-dashboards/), [co-authoring after Office Online Server](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/office-online-server-retirement/), [Teams governance with CtrlTeams](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/ctrlteams-microsoft-teams-governance/) and [time tracking under EU law](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/eu-time-tracking-law/). The [Excel export](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/export-m-files-to-excel/), [filtered search](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/filtered-search-for-m-files/), [co-authoring for professional services](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/co-authoring-for-professional-services/) and [time tracking for remote teams](https://ctrldocs.com/blog/employee-time-tracking/) follow on from those.