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CtrlShare

Co-author in Office on any M‑Files, cloud or on-premise

Write it together, keep it in M‑Files

Some documents need colleagues and people outside the company in the same file. CtrlShare opens it for all of them from M‑Files, and it comes back as a new version. It works on every M‑Files edition, in M‑Files Cloud or on-premise.

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The CtrlShare dialog for a document. At the top is the document's OneDrive link with a Copy link button. Below it, the document is shared with two people, with a Manage access button, and it can be opened in Office Desktop or in the browser.

Co-authoring on any M‑Files, in the cloud or on-premise

M‑Files Cloud or your own servers

CtrlShare works the same on every M‑Files edition, whether M‑Files runs in M‑Files Cloud or on servers you host yourself. M‑Files' own desktop co-authoring is for M‑Files Cloud customers on selected editions.

The Office people already use

Everyone works in the same file at the same time, in desktop Office with Track Changes and the rest of what they use there, or in the browser. There is nothing to merge afterwards.

Still working after 31 December 2026

On-premise, M‑Files' browser co-authoring runs through Office Online Server, which Microsoft retires at the end of 2026. CtrlShare does not use it, so the server can go when it suits you.

On a Mac or in a plain browser too

People on a Mac, or in a browser without the M‑Files extension, can still take a document out, edit it in Office and bring it back to M‑Files.

How a document travels to OneDrive and back

  1. Someone opens it from M‑Files

    The author

    In desktop Office or the browser, whichever suits them.

  2. They invite people by name

    The author or an editor

    Colleagues and people outside the company, each allowed to edit or only to read.

  3. Everyone works in one file

    Editors

    The file sits in OneDrive for Business while the work goes on, and everyone edits the same copy.

  4. It returns to M‑Files

    The document comes back as a new version, with permissions and history intact.

Invite colleagues and clients in one go

Add M‑Files users, other employees and people outside the company in the same action, each as an editor or a viewer. You decide who edits and who only reads.

  • Clients and advisers need no M‑Files licence — They get an email invitation, confirm it with a code and work in their browser.
  • Anyone with edit access can bring more people in
The CtrlShare share dialog with a box for adding people by name or email. Two colleagues, one an M-Files user and one an employee, can edit, and an external contact at another company can view. A Share button sits underneath.

CtrlShare in each person's own language

CtrlShare's commands and dialogs appear in each person's M‑Files language, for every language you add. You can reword any of the texts to suit your company.

  • Dialogs and commands in the language set in M‑Files
  • Anyone else sees the language you mark as the default
The CtrlShare dialog in German, with the document link, the people it is shared with, and the choice of Office desktop or the browser, all translated.

See a document co-authored through OneDrive

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Let the workflow do the sharing

When a document reaches review in its workflow, CtrlShare starts the co-authoring by itself. You can also open a document to a whole group at once, such as the review team or the legal department.

A review and approval workflow: Draft, In review, For approval and Approved, with Reject leading back to Draft. A note beside In review says what CtrlShare does there: it checks the document out to OneDrive as it enters the state, shares it with the reviewers as editors, and lets it move on once it is checked back in as a new version.

Follow the work from M‑Files

While a document is out for co-authoring, a Live Preview tab beside it in M‑Files shows the copy in OneDrive as it stands, not the version from before. Anyone who may open the document can follow the work.

  • Refresh the preview to see the latest changes
  • Open it from the preview to join in
M-Files with the view Out for co-authoring on the left and a proposal selected. On the right, the Live Preview tab shows the proposal as it stands in OneDrive, with Refresh and Open buttons at the top.

You stay in charge of the document

Access goes to the people you named

Everyone is invited by name. An outside person has to be registered in M‑Files before anyone can share with them, and re-sharing from OneDrive can be restricted or denied.

You can always say what is out

A search or view shows what is out for co-authoring now and who it is shared with, and what was shared before.

Accidents can be put right

If someone deletes a document by accident, an administrator can restore it.

An M-Files view called Out for co-authoring listing five documents: three proposals, a project plan and meeting minutes. For each it shows the colleagues who may edit it, the customers' contact persons who may edit or read it, and when it was checked out.

What it needs to run

  • Any M‑Files edition, in M‑Files Cloud or on-premise, with M‑Files 25.1 or later on the server and in the clients.
  • Azure AD (Entra ID).
  • Microsoft 365 Office licences for all internal users.
  • A service account with an active OneDrive licence.
  • A Person object and the properties listed in the CtrlShare documentation.
  • The M‑Files desktop client or M‑Files Web.

The set-up guide is in the CtrlShare documentation.

Tell us which documents go round by email

Those are the ones to start with. In the demo we open a document of that kind from M‑Files, share it with a colleague and an outside reader, and bring it back as a new version.

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Questions about CtrlShare

How is this different from the co-authoring M‑Files already has?
M‑Files' own desktop co-authoring runs on Microsoft's SharePoint Embedded and is for M‑Files Cloud customers on selected editions. On-premise, M‑Files co-authoring works in Office for the web through Office Online Server. CtrlShare needs neither SharePoint Embedded nor Office Online Server: it works through Microsoft 365 and OneDrive for Business, in M‑Files Cloud and on-premise alike, in desktop Office or the browser.
We use Office Online Server today. What happens when it retires?
Microsoft retires Office Online Server on 31 December 2026, so anything you run on it has a date attached. CtrlShare does not depend on Office Online Server, so co-authoring keeps working and you can retire the server on your own schedule. More in Office Online Server retires: what it means for M‑Files.
Can people outside the company take part?
Yes. M‑Files users, employees and external contacts are invited in the same action, each as an editor or a viewer. An external contact receives an email invitation, confirms it with a code and works in the browser. They need no M‑Files licence. There are no public links: only the people you named get access, and anyone with edit access can bring more people in.
Who decides which outside people a document can be shared with?
You do, through the vault. Everyone a document is shared with, internal or external, is represented by an object in M‑Files. An external person has to exist there before anyone can share with them, so the permission to create those objects is also the control over who can be invited.
Do we lose desktop Office features by co-authoring this way?
Not if the document is opened on the desktop. You choose desktop Office or the browser when you open it, and on the desktop all Office functions are available, such as creating PivotCharts and running macros, which Office for the web cannot do.
Can people see a document while it is out?
Yes. A Live Preview tab beside it in M‑Files shows the copy in OneDrive as it stands, to everyone who may open the document. They can refresh it for the latest changes, or open the document from there to join in.
Where does the document sit while people work on it?
In OneDrive for Business, held by a service account, until the work is finished and it returns to M‑Files as a new version with permissions and history intact. Re-sharing it from OneDrive can be restricted or denied.
We already run CtrlSync. Can both work in the same vault?
Yes. CtrlShare and CtrlSync can co-exist in one vault, and the CtrlSync documentation covers setting them up together.
Is there a trial?
Yes: 30 days, like every CtrlDocs product. We demonstrate CtrlShare and help set up a demo environment so you can try it yourself. We answer the same working day.

More CtrlDocs add-ons for M‑Files

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See CtrlPortals 

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See CtrlScout 

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See CtrlProcesses 

CtrlTeams

Microsoft Teams, governed from M‑Files

Start a project in M‑Files and its team in Microsoft Teams is ready, with the right people in it and your folders and templates in place. What they write there is kept in M‑Files.

See CtrlTeams 

CtrlSync

Teams and SharePoint, filed with metadata and rights

People work in Teams or SharePoint, and the documents you want kept are copied to M‑Files with metadata, filed under their project with the access rights preserved.

See CtrlSync 

CtrlConnect

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See CtrlConnect 

CtrlTime

Time tracking where the work happens

Record hours in a calendar inside M‑Files, on the customer or project they belong to. Approved weeks feed payroll, invoicing and project follow-up.

See CtrlTime 

FancyLinks

M‑Files links with the details built in

M‑Files links that show which document and which version they point to, and open it directly. Free to use.

See FancyLinks