What is HowNow Online Edit App

The Edit App enables the interaction of Microsoft Office with the HowNow Online Application.


When the Edit App is loaded, documents can be updated by clicking on the Edit App Icon. The document will open in the relevant program.

The Edit App then continues to monitor the document and allows saving back to HowNow Online.


When a Document is open for Editing it is also Locked so other users cannot edit the document at the same time - the closed padlock icon will be visible.

The padlock icon will show as open, signifying that it can be Locked, and vice versa.


For security reasons the Document can be Unlocked by the user that Locked it for Editing, or the System Administrator who can check with the user, to ensure they have saved any changes before Unlocking.

To Unlock the Document click on the Closed Lock Action Icon.


To see who had locked the document, click on the More Actions Icon (three dots) and click on Information.





Users who locked the document initially are able to manually unlock the file once it has been saved and synced back up to HowNow Online. There are two ways a document can be unlocked.

  1. Unlock the Document, click on the Closed Padlock Action Icon.
  2. Click on the Hidden Icons button, right-click on the Edit App Icon, select the document being monitored and then click on Request Unlock.

**If you forget to unlock the file (perhaps your PC rebooted) it will automatically be unlocked after 24 hours





Hidden Icon Features

Use the Hidden Icon to:

1. Go to HowNow - navigate to the HowNow URL

2. Hover over a document to 'Edit', 'Request Unlock' or 'Open Backups folder'

3. 'Disconnect from server'

4. 'Logout' of the Edit App

5. User 'About' to see your version number

5. 'Exit' the Edit App



When saving or uploading documents the Upload Bar will show your save/upload as it progresses in saving to HowNow Online. For smaller files the save process may be to quick to allow you to view the Upload Bar.




From Edit App version 1.0.83.0, the Edit App will automatically backup a file if it is noticed the document being edited is unlocked but there is a previous version of it in the local editing folder. Browse to the local editing folder to find the backup files if needed - C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Local\HowNow\Edit\Files\[Client]\backups (or check the Pickup folder if you cannot find a document).  Emails are located in this folder - C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Local\Temp\HOWNOW TEMP FILES



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