Help! Can't open project...says Storyline is locked by another...

This is my issue as well. Going to miss my deadline. Can't open any SL project...not even start a new one. :(

Hi Heather,

I just answered your other post over here as well.

Looks like I addressed a similar question here.

I looked at all the posts, but all were about disk space and not to being locked. I have 130 G disk /space and I can open other files. Just not my current course/

I copied it to another folder and then could open it. Just a little odd because I have numerous versions of this in the original folder, with the same file-name character length, and they all opened. Until now.

Hi Amy

I would make a copy of the .story file in Explorer then try renaming the .story file and see if it will open.

Hi Amy, 

I'm glad to hear having it in another folder allowed you to open it - have you confirmed that you've been working locally as described here? You may also want to look at importing it into a new .story file to resolve any lingering issues with the files. 

Let us know if you need anything else.

Hello,

I am getting the same message ("locked by another process"). I tried the troubleshooting steps in the linked articles above, but no luck. Any other ways to get around this issue?

Thanks!

Hi Jessica, 

Which troubleshooting steps did you go through - as there are a few linked here? You'll want to make sure you're working locally, have closed any other open applications of Storyline (I'd double check it in the Task manager), and ensure you're using the latest update of Storyline 2 Update 7 or Storyline 1 Update 10. 

If you're still having difficulty after going through those steps, did you also try importing it into a new file as described here? 

Same issue appeared here today.  Ran through Ashley’s troubleshooting steps and all appeared to be well.  Ending the process tree in Windows Task Manager failed the first couple of times I tried it, but succeeded on the third.  I’m thinking it was because I took a break after the third attempt.  Perhaps that gave it more time to close all the processes—from my experience thus far, SL2 tends to be a hog of system resources, and it may require extra time for it to fully release everything.

Thanks CL for sharing the update and letting us know you're back to normal. How large was the file you were working in? Did you have a lot of other applications open? 

Only a browser (for previewing published output), and the .story file was 236 MB.  Given my system specs, that should have left plenty of RAM and processing cycles available to Storyline.  (SL2 is current using about 320 MB of committed memory, which doesn’t strike me as excessive.)

Hm, definitely curious CL - and since closing it through the Task manager allowed it to work normally again, your "extra time" thought may be accurate - so keep us posted if you run into issues again. 

I'm having the same problem as described about.  I can't open the Storyling file because it's locked.  I've tried all the troubleshooting recommendations in this post, but am at a complete loss what to do now.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Hi there, Amy.  I just want to confirm the steps you've taken so far:

• Ensure you're working locally with the latest version of Storyline 2
• Close any other instances of Storyline in your Task Manager
• Reboot your machine
• Copy and rename your .story file in File Explorer, and then open the new file from there
• Check for any applications that "back up" your files running in the background

Thanks for letting us know-- we'll get you some help!

Hi Crystal,

I hadn't tried to copy and rename the .story file.  That's worked brilliantly!  Thank you so much for your help!!

That's good news, Amy!  Thanks for letting everyone know that it did the trick.  :)

That works very well. I was about out of ideas until I read your post. :-)

Glad that helped Stanton - good luck with your project.

Ditto -  it worked! (breathing normally now)

Glad that this thread was able to help you out as well Jerrie :) Thanks for popping in to share.

Creating a copy worked for me also.

Oouuf. I was sweating for a bit :S

Glad that helps you out Mélanie! Keep in mind that you'll want to follow the tips here to prevent future file corruption. 

Just tried this. Worked for me!

Glad that this thread was able to help you out as well Sarah :)

Thanks for chiming in to share.