Locked by Another Process

This happened to me again today. It actually happens about once a month with random story files. I copy/paste them in the same location and up my version number and it has always works. It is very annoying though.

Hi Lynette,

Sorry you've had such an annoying time with this! I'm glad you're able to resave and continue working, but wanted to ask about your copy/paste set up? Where is the file initially stored? Have you tried instead to import it into a new .story file that's stored locally? I tend to recommend that to keep everything intact and help prevent future corruption issues. 

Also, our Support Team is always happy to look at your setup and steps you follow one on one and offer any additional advice. You can reach out to start a case using that link. 

Uh oh, Lynette! 

I'm so sorry you're still running into issues, and if that workaround keeps you going, that's great to have in your pocket! I would like to figure out why this is causing you so much trouble though. I'll open a support case for you and that way our team can reach out and do some digging! 

Oh no, Tricia! I'm really sorry this problem reared its head for this long.

While I'm glad to hear that you found a workaround, working on a C: drive should never cause this behavior. I hope you don't mind, but I've opened a support case with our Support Engineers on your behalf, so we can sort this out for you.

They're rockstars at nailing the culprit of such issues, and I'll follow along so I can share any needed updates here! 

I think they fixed it. We have a cloud syncing software that defaults to syncing in real-time.

The Support Engineers said, "We have found that at times software which uses this feature can tie up a file causing it not to be accessible to Storyline. Can you try changing the sync settings to be set off of a time frame such as 15 minutes to see if this fixes the issue? Once you change the setting to sync every 15 minutes, please restart your computer and try to access a Storyline file located in your synced folder as you had tried before."

And guess what, I think it works!

Fantastic news, Tricia! Thanks for working with us in tackling this issue–a new world outside of the desktop awaits!

Update: After a second look, it sounds like the sync might be happening in a shared drive/network. While the files appear on the desktop/C: drive, the sync could still cause continued oddities. Disabling the sync when opening a Storyline file should help, though!

Hope that helps, and we're here if you need anything else!

Hi - Our team is repeatedly seeing the same issue (see attached screen shot). Multiple people. Different SL360 files. Different computers. Computers have been re-started multiple times. All working off of our respective C: Drives. All running the most up-to-date version of Storyline 360 (v3.20.16814.0). Nothing is being synced that we know of (our backups are done automatically overnight). Any solution to this issue yet? Thanks! 

Yikes, I know that must be frustrating, Elizabeth! We want to get you help right away, so I've opened a case on your behalf. You'll hear back from our team soon!

So I had this exact same issue with the same error and could not open the file due to it being locked. The solution I found was to find the file in my C: drive folder, copy the file, then paste the file directly onto my desktop. This worked for me. I'm using a Win 10 Laptop and just got the latest update of articulate yesterday. Very bizarre error.

Hi Nick,

Thanks for sharing your solution with us! You're right, that's certainly bizarre, but I'm happy you were able to get back up and running. If this happens again, be sure to let us know!