0.5 Sharing, co-authoring and comments
Checked against Microsoft's Office for Windows keyboard references, August 2026
What you'll be able to do
Work on one file with other people at the same time, with nobody's changes lost. Use comments as conversations that get settled. Know the one case where a PDF beats a link.
Before you start
A file kept on OneDrive. Sharing needs the copy on the internet, because a file on your own computer has no link to give. A friend to try it with helps.
The work
- No documented keyboard shortcut for this — use the menu: select the Share button at the top-right of the window. Before you copy any link, open the link settings and answer two questions on purpose. Who can use this link: anyone, people in your organisation, or only people you name? What may they do: edit it, or only read it? "Anyone with the link can edit" is a real setting. Hand that out knowingly or not at all.
- Same either way: send an edit link to a friend and both of you start typing. If you have nobody to try it with, open the file in a second browser window signed in as someone else. Each person's cursor appears with their name, and changes arrive live on both screens. Nobody is locked out. This is called co-authoring, and it is why "mail me the file back when you're done" is finished.
- Same either way: when what you have is an opinion, leave a comment instead of editing. In Excel press CtrlShiftF2. In PowerPoint press CtrlAltM. In Word, use Review → New Comment. Inside a comment, type the @ sign and a person's name and they are told about it. That is called an @mention, and it turns a note into a question aimed at someone.
- Same either way: when a comment thread is settled, resolve it. The option sits on the thread itself. Resolved threads fold away but are not deleted, so the conversation stays findable and the page stays clear.
- Same either way: choose between a link and a PDF with one question. Is this still being worked on? A link shares the living file: always current, editable by whoever you allowed. A PDF is a frozen photograph. It is right when the work is finished and must not change on the way — an application, an invoice, a final report.
Try it
Share your practice file with edit rights to one person, or to your own second account. Edit together for a minute. Leave each other one comment with an @mention. Resolve both. Then save the finished thing as PDF and compare what each form is for.
Check yourself
Two people edited the same OneDrive document at the same time. Whose changes survived?
Both. Co-authoring merges live edits, and each person's cursor is visible while they work. Lost changes belong to the days of mailing files around.
What two decisions does a share link's settings screen ask you to make?
Who the link works for — anyone, your organisation, or named people — and what it allows: editing, or reading only.
What does an @mention inside a comment do?
It tells that person directly. The comment becomes a question aimed at someone, instead of a note hoping to be found.
When is a PDF the better thing to send than a link?
When the document is finished and must not change, because the PDF holds it still. A link is for work still moving.
Why does resolving a comment beat deleting it?
A resolved thread folds out of the way but keeps the conversation on record. You can open it again or read the reasoning later.
Go deeper
We haven't checked most of these for screen reader use yet.
Back to Sharing, co-authoring and comments: work through the checklist