Coauthoring on documents stored in Box is now available to individuals working on their computer's desktop using the full version of Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. With this improvement, groups can simultaneously edit and collaborate on Microsoft Office files on the desktop in real time, with all changes automatically saved to Box.

The new functionality complements Box's existing integration with Office Online, enabling teams to coauthor Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents in Box whether they are working in Office on their desktop or the web.

You must have the current Microsoft 365 version of the Office desktop apps installed to open from or save to Box, or to be able to co-author from your desktop.

If you don't have the most recent or correct version of the full Office apps, Box Drive provides similar functionality for opening or saving between an Office desktop app and Box. For real-time co-authoring, the Office Online in-browser apps are available to anyone with a Cornell Microsoft account. See Editing Microsoft Files through Box and Office Online to review how to open an Office file that is stored in Box in an Office Online app like Word Online or Excel Online. See also Basic Tasks in Word for the web, Excel for the web, and PowerPoint for the web.

For more information, see Box for Microsoft Office coauthoring on the Box website.