Does anybody knows how to merge documents in Word?

[Astralv]

Hey there

If on the network Word file is opened for editing for one individual, it locks it for everybody else and gives a message, with 3 options:

1. Open Read only copy
2. Create Local Copy and merge your changes later
3. Receive notification when original copy becomes available

Let's say somebody was using option #2 and created many duplicates. Does it mean- there is a way to merge these files with original and go back to one, or will it have to be manually compared and copied? Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

Hey there

If on the network Word file is opened for editing for one individual, it locks it for everybody else and gives a message, with 3 options:

1. Open Read only copy
2. Create Local Copy and merge your changes later
3. Receive notification when original copy becomes available

Let's say somebody was using option #2 and created many duplicates. Does it mean- there is a way to merge these files with original and go back to one, or will it have to be manually compared and copied? Thank you.

Manually compared and copied.
There is no way for software (Word or otherwise) to determine who 'wins' in the case of the two of you changing the same sentence/paragraph/etc.

 

[Astralv]

Well- one is original, other is a copy. If it saved right, usually it would ask when you open that file, "Would you like to merge it?" But it does not ask it this time because I guess some files are .doc and some .docx. But there got to be a better way!

 

[USAFRet]

Well- one is original, other is a copy. If it saved right, usually it would ask when you open that file, "Would you like to merge it?" But it does not ask it this time because I guess some files are .doc and some .docx. But there got to be a better way!

You can save a .doc as a .docx.
But how do you 'merge' 2 versions of the same sentence? Software can't do that. One will overwrite the other.
Who wins?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

Copy and paste.

 

[Astralv]

Right, unless we talking about many documents... this may get time consuming. Thanks.

We merge them all the time, it just has to be done right. It would not have the same sentences, it knows what is different and moves new data in to the old. Web sites do the same thing all the time. It would ask if you like to merge and it will merge for you, but in this case it was not done right and it does not ask.

 

[manddy123]

Maybe a version control system like GIT can do that for you?
It would require a bit of deeper understanding on version control, but it will likely solve all your problems if done right.

 

[Colif]

This might help: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Collaborate-on-Word-documents-with-real-time-co-authoring-7dd3040c-3f30-4fdd-bab0-8586492a1f1d?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

depends which version of Office you have, 2016 is more integrated into web than previous versions so I expect they saw this coming,