Collaborate live on Microsoft Office documents in Box

January 29, 2016

Box has announced that multiple people can now simultaneously edit Microsoft Office documents stored in Box via the new Box for Office Online real-time co-authoring features. This is similar to the simultaneous editing features already available in Google Docs. Some highlights:

  • There is no need to convert a Microsoft Office document to another format before working on it together.

  • When multiple people are editing a document, their names will appear in the upper right corner.

  • Your collaborator's text cursor will appear in a unique color, and their name will be displayed next to it.

  • All edits are automatically saved, avoiding version conflict. It’s easy to pull up a previous version to reference old content whenever needed.

For more details:

This latest announcement is just one of many ways Box is a useful collaboration tool for groups. Of particular interest here at UC Berkeley, Box makes it easy to ensure your group owns all of the documents related to the group’s work, rather than any one individual; while still allowing people to use their own personal accounts to log into Box. This means the group can automatically retain access to and control of all of its work, even as individuals come and go.