If you’ve ever had a document get stuck in NetDocuments — locked as “checked out” when you know it shouldn’t be, or refusing to check back in after you’ve finished editing — your web browser may be the culprit. This is one of the most common support issues Optiable sees, and it’s almost always preventable with one simple habit: keeping your browser up to date.
Here’s what you need to know about why browser updates matter for NetDocuments, and for your security and performance across the web.
How an Outdated Browser Breaks NetDocuments Check-In / Check-Out
NetDocuments relies on modern browser APIs — the behind-the-scenes communication channels that let your browser talk to the NetDocuments cloud. The check-in and check-out workflow depends on these APIs working correctly to lock a document when you open it for editing, track who has it open, unlock it and save the latest version when you’re done, and communicate cleanly with ndOffice or ndClick for desktop editing.
When your browser is out of date, these API calls can fail silently, time out, or behave unpredictably. The result: documents that appear permanently checked out, check-in attempts that do nothing, or error messages with no clear explanation. Users then have to ask an administrator to force-clear the lock, which wastes everyone’s time and can cause version conflicts if multiple people try to edit the same file.
NetDocuments continuously updates its platform to take advantage of improvements in modern browsers. If your browser hasn’t kept pace, you’re essentially running a new application on old plumbing.
How to Update Your Browser
Google Chrome (most common among NetDocuments users)
- Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
- Go to Help → About Google Chrome.
- Chrome checks for updates automatically.
- Click Relaunch to complete the update.
Microsoft Edge
- Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
- Go to Help and Feedback → About Microsoft Edge.
- Edge downloads the update automatically.
- Click Restart to apply.