Check In or Check Out Components

Tridion secures content by checking components out to users when they open them.

Overview

Generally, when you save and close a component, it checks it back in for others to use. Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong. Learn below how to check components back in and identify ones you have inadvertently checked out.

Check Out
Check In
Identifying Components You Have Checked Out

Checking Out Components

When you open a component, the system automatically locks it and checks it out to you. This prevents anyone else from being able to open the component at the same time and make edits that conflict with yours. When a component is checked out, a little lock icon will appear on top of the component icon, like this:

You can also check out a component by right-clicking on it and selecting Versioning > Check Out. Another way to check out a component is to click on it once and then select Check-out from the top ribbon.
Checking In Components

In most cases, when you save and close a component, the system releases the lock and the component will return to being checked in. However, in some cases the system not release the lock and the component will need to be manually checked in. Below are the steps for doing so.

Checking in components you have checked out

In some rare cases, the system will not recognize that you are done working on the component and will continue to keep it checked out to you. (For example, this will happen if you close the browser window without saving and closing your work.) If this happens, you have a couple different options for checking the component back in.
1. You can try opening the component and then click Save and Close. This allows you to review any changes that have been made to the component and will sometimes release the lock when it is saved.
2. You can right-click on the component and select Versioning > Check In. This will check in the component and also retain any changes that were made to it.
3. You can right-click on the component and select Versioning > Undo Check Out. This will check in the component, but will not save any changes made to it. (You will get a pop-up confirming that you want to proceed and lose any possible changes.)
Checking in components someone else has checked out

It is not possible for you to check in components someone else has checked out. Please submit a ticket to the web team, along with a way to identify the component (file name, path, link, etc), and we can check it back in for you.
Identifying Components You Have Checked Out

To see which items you currently have checked out, click on Checked-out Items in the Shortcuts section (upper left column). Once you click on that, all items checked out to you will display on the right side of the screen. From here you can check them back in, if needed.