Troubleshooting checkin/checkout problems in a SharePoint workspace

Problems with checking out or checking in documents (or discarding a checkout) in a SharePoint workspace document library may result from one of the following circumstances:

· You may have lost connectivity with the SharePoint server.
To test your connectivity, try going to the SharePoint site in a Web browser. To navigate quickly to the SharePoint site, you can click the breadcrumb link in the title bar:
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· You might not have the required SharePoint server permissions to do the activity.
In order to check out a document for editing, you must have at least “Contribute” permission for the document. You can check your permissions on the SharePoint site: Click Site Actions, and then click Site Permissions.

· If you get an error while trying to check in a file, it is possible that the file might not actually be checked out. A file may incorrectly appear to be checked out for any of the following reasons:

o An administrator, for some reason, may have discarded the checkout directly on the server.

o You checked out the file in a SharePoint workspace, but then checked it in from the application or directly on the server.
For example, in Office Word 2010, on the File tab, you can click Info and then click Check In to check in a file that you had originally checked out from a SharePoint workspace.
In either case, the file retains a checkout marker in the SharePoint workspace until the next synchronization. To resolve this, try manually synchronizing the document library. If the file is already checked in, this will clear the checkout marker. On the Sync tab, click Sync and then click Sync Tool.
If you discover that the file is already checked in, but you’re certain that you yourself did not check it in, try viewing the file’s version history to see if you can identify who last checked in the file.

o Although highly unusual, your permissions may have changed since the time you checked out the file such that you no longer have editing access. Check your permissions as described earlier in this document.

· Files have been deleted on the SharePoint server.
In rare cases, you might attempt to check in files that were deleted on the SharePoint server during the period before the next synchronization. If you want to ensure that the files you want to check in still exist on the server, initiate a manual synchronization before attempting the checkin.