When someone in your org has an edit lock on a property and won't release it (closed their browser, went to lunch, dropped network), an admin can force-unlock the property to take over. This page is the procedure and the trade-offs.
When to force unlock
- The lock holder is clearly idle — they're not responding on chat, they've gone home, etc.
- The lock has been held for more than the normal idle timeout (~10 minutes) without natural release.
- You need to edit the property and waiting isn't an option.
If they're at their desk but just not actively typing, don't force unlock — talk to them first.
Steps
- Open the property.
- Confirm the banner names who has the lock and how long they've held it.
- (Recommended) Message, email, or text them to confirm they've walked away.
- Click Force unlock in the property header.
- Read the confirmation prompt — this discards their pending edits.
- Confirm.
The lock is released immediately. The previous holder's pending edits are discarded; their session is bumped to read-only.
What gets discarded
- Their unsaved changes in the save bar — gone.
- Their session lock — released.
Their already-saved edits (anything they clicked Save on before walking away) are unaffected.
Audit trail
Every force-unlock creates an entry in Version history tagged with:
- The time of the force-unlock.
- Who performed it.
- Who held the lock.
- How long they'd held it.
This is auditable so admins are accountable for using the action.
Permission
Force-unlock is admin-only. Members don't see the button. See Roles for the full permission breakdown.
What if I'm an admin and I hold a stuck lock
Sign back in (close any rogue browser tab that might still hold it), or wait for the idle timeout. If neither works (very rare), contact support and we'll release it server-side.
Best practices
- Don't force unlock without checking. A discarded edit is real lost work for your teammate.
- Save often. Your own edits are at risk if someone force-unlocks you. The save bar is a 1-click commit; use it.
- Communicate. "I'm in [property] for the next hour" on your team chat avoids most of these situations.