When you try to mail merge a Microsoft Word document from Document Manager, you receive an error message similar to the following:
"The document handimerge is locked for editing by another user. To open a read-only copy of his document, click"
This behaviour may occur if Microsoft Word determines that the owner file for the document already exists.
This may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:
Microsoft Word previously quit improperly and, therefore, did not delete the owner file, or
A second instance of Microsoft Word is running in the background with the document already open, or
The document is shared over a network, and another user has it open.
To resolve this issue, first confirm that another user on the network does not have the document open. If the document is in use, open the document as read-only. If it is not in use, quit all instances of Microsoft Word, and then remove the owner file.
To do so, follow these steps.
Note: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
You may need to change your computer settings temporary to display the Microsoft Word owner file.
Go to File Explorer Options, View, Check - Show hidden files, folders and drives and click Apply.
Quit all instances of Microsoft Word. To do so, follow these steps:
Save all your work, and then quit all programs.
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Windows Security dialog box.
Click Task Manager, and then click the Processes tab.
Click Winword.exe, and then click End Process.
In the Task Manager Warning dialogue box, click Yes. (If you receive a message that states that the program is not responding, click End Now.)
Repeat steps (d) and (e) for each occurrence of Winword.exe.
On the File menu, click Exit Task Manager.
2. Start Windows Explorer, and then browse to the folder that contains the document file that you tried to open when you received the error message. For example "\servershare$hsoftdoc
3. Find the following two files:
4. For both files, please do the following (one at a time):
Right-click on the file and click Properties
In the Properties window, please select Read-only, then click Apply and Ok.
5. Delete the owner file, if it exists. The owner file is located in the same folder as the document that you tried to open.
Example: The owner file name uses the following convention: It begins with a tilde (~), followed by a dollar sign ($)
6. Try the merge again.