You can open the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files of a File-based SOP in Office on your computer, edit them directly, and save them straight to the Dive draft. You do not need to download the file, edit it, and upload it again. The saved file becomes the file of the revision draft, and the approval and publishing flow is the same as for other SOPs.
This feature is available only to customers on the Pro and Enterprise plans. It is used from a browser on a Windows PC. Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) must be installed on the computer.
If you only want to view a published File-based SOP in Office, you can open it in read-only mode with [Open on desktop] in the viewer (For reference: Open and look at a published File-based SOP in Office (Open on desktop)).
Requirements
- The file of the File-based SOP must be Word, Excel, or PowerPoint (PDF, URL, and other files are shown as Not target)
- It must be a Windows computer. [Edit on desktop] is not shown on Mac, smartphones, or tablets
- The revision draft must be opened by its Created user. Published versions and drafts by other users cannot be edited
- The draft must not have been submitted for approval
- Your role must be Created user or higher
On the Free, Lite, and Core plans, clicking [Edit on desktop] shows a guide to the plans.
How to edit
- On the SOP editing screen, open the [Step details] tab and click [Edit on desktop] under [File-based SOP settings]. For a published SOP, first create a revision to make a draft.
- If the browser asks whether to open Office, select Open. The file opens in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
- If Protected View and [Enable Editing] appear at the top of Office, click [Enable Editing].
- Edit the file and save it (Ctrl+S). Each time you save, the file in the Dive draft is updated.
- When you finish editing, close Office. Closing it recreates the PDF for display, which is used to show the SOP on screen.
- Check the details on the Dive editing screen, then submit for approval or publish the SOP in the same way as other SOPs.
If there are unsaved changes on the editing screen, save them first before opening Office.
What you see while editing
While you are editing, [File-based SOP settings] shows "Editing on desktop (from [time])". On the screens of other users who can edit this SOP, "[Name] is editing on desktop" is shown.
While you are editing, and while the PDF for display is being created, you cannot replace the file, change the conversion method, request approval, or restore from the revision history. A message saying "Editing on desktop. Please close Office and then perform the action." is shown. Close Office, and do these after the PDF for display is ready.
After you close Office, "Creating the PDF for display" is shown while the PDF for display is being created. If it cannot be created, the reason is shown, so please click [Create again].
If Office Quits Unexpectedly (Finish editing)
If Office quits unexpectedly, the "Editing on desktop" message may remain. For the user who was editing, [Finish editing] is shown. Before you click it, make sure the file is not still open in Office. If the PDF for display has not been created yet, you can create it with [Create PDF for display].
Even if you do nothing, the editing message is cleared up to 10 minutes after you close Office.
Frequently asked questions
Q. [Edit on desktop] is not shown.
A. It is shown on a Windows computer when the draft of a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file is open by the person who created that draft. It is not shown on Mac or smartphones, for PDF files, for published versions, or for drafts by other users.
Q. I cannot open the file from "Recent" in Office.
A. The link for opening the file in Office has an expiry date: 1 hour after Office is closed, or 12 hours after it is first opened. Please try again from [Edit on desktop] in Dive.
Q. I saved the file, but the viewing screen still shows the old content.
A. The PDF for display is recreated when you close Office. Wait a little after closing Office, then reload the screen. The contents of a draft are not shown on other users' viewing screens until it is published.
Q. I want to go back to the file of a published version.
A. On the editing screen, open [View revision history], and use [Download the file for this Rev] on the Rev you want to restore to get its file. Then re-upload it with [Replace] → [Upload from computer] under [File-based SOP settings].