Can we have an option to lock files we're working on to avoid conflicted copies?

[Angie O.]

My business partner and I (often working from different locations) are constantly working on the same documents and trying to save our work at the same time. Result: lots of conflicted copies of files. I would love to have something in the Dropbox UI that allows us to see if another person is working on the file or has the file open. It would save us a lot of FLAME texting. We love each other but this is one thing that makes us want to kill each other.

[Nancy]

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[Hana U.]

Or at least - I would appreciate the possibility to see, that someone else is working with the file.

[Mark]

It already exists in the 'Dropbox badge' feature. It is being rolled out at present with priority I believe to Pro users. 

[Steven W.31]

It would be nice if I had the option to make a file read only for other users while I was editing it.  An alternative, but definitely second choice, is that a notice could be given to anyone who opens the file that notifies them the file is being edited by someone else.

[Mark]

It is already possible via the Dropbox Badge. 

[Steven W.31]

Is that a premium feature?  Right now I am using the free version and don't see the feature.

[Mark]

No, its available to all I believe although it is only being rolled out slowly. 

Have a look at www.dropbox.com/help for info and make sure you have a recent build via www.dropbox.com/install 

[Nik]

As I recall - Badge only works for Word, Powerpoint, or Excel. This feature could be very helpful for other file types and reduce conflicts.

[ISTeam F.]

Badge often fails to load in Dropbox Business and users can turn off badge (can't be controlled at admin level). An admin option to lock files when editing for Business clients should be available.

[Kingbuilt D.]

Badge doesn't work for us. Apart from not being consistent and reliable, I mean. 

We have some computers outside the office and many in the office. To avoid having multiple copies of everything downloaded on the same internet connection, dropbox is installed on just one computer in the office, and the whole folder is shared to the other computers over the network.

The badge will never help in this case.

Dropbox should lock out the other files as read only, in the same way that Windows does, so that you can't open a file if another user has it open on another computer. Simple.

[Simon W.37]

When will a generic windows type file locking be available to all types of files? 
If not a lock a simple warning would help.