# Lock and Unlock a Case To ensure you're the only user who can edit a Case, you can lock the Case and child records. Cases are automatically locked at certain stages during Case processing by default, such as the Approved and Closed states, or when a user initiates certain actions. Manual Case locking ensures that changes made to the Case are not overwritten by other users and prevents simultaneous editing. Locking a Case prevents other users from saving changes while still allowing users to view the Case. Once you're finished making changes, you can unlock the Case to make it available for other users to edit data.
## Prerequisites Manual Case locking is not configured in Vault Safety by default. This feature must always be configured as part of a Vault implementation or enhancement. Enable Manual Case Locking: User Check In and Check Out provides instructions. Before configuring this feature, consider the impact to your business process. Manual Case locking is controlled through user actions to lock and unlock a Case. You must have the appropriate privileges to be able to access these user actions. Access to user actions is controlled and configured by your Admin through Permission Sets. After following the steps to configure manual Case locking, see Manage Strict Case Locking for more details. ## What Happens When You Lock a Case Once you lock a Case, Vault prevents other users from saving changes to the Case and child records until you unlock the Case. All Case child records (Case Assessment, Case Product, and so on) are locked, with the exception of Parental Case and Case Number records. If another user attempts to save changes to a locked Case, an error message similar to the following appears: "Case [000002 (v0.1) - SAE - Cholecap - Angioedema - CH] was locked by [Safety Operations] at [07 May 2020 16:21 EDT]. Please contact them or an administrator to unlock." The following Case actions will be blocked for users to whom the Case is not locked: * Evaluate Regulatory Conformance * Evaluate Reporting Obligations * Assign Due Date * Submit to Gateway A lock icon and the **This Case is Locked** section appears once a Case is locked, providing details about who locked the Case and when it was locked. Note that this section may appear differently depending on your Vault's configuration. The following image shows the **This Case is Locked** section: Locked Case Section ## Manually Lock a Case {#lock-case} 1. From the **Cases** tab, open the Case record that you want to lock. 2. From the **All Actions** menu, select **Lock Case**.
This user action may not be configured or may be labeled differently, depending on your Vault's configuration. If the action is configured but you don't see it, you may not have sufficient privileges. 3. Proceed to edit the Case and unlock the Case once you're done making changes. **Result** The Case is locked and Vault prevents other users from making changes. The **This Case is Locked** section appears. ## Reassign a Locked Case Depending on your permissions, you may be able to reassign a locked Case or clear the lock regardless of whether you are the user who initially locked the Case. This permission is typically reserved for a small number of **Lock Manager** users. 1. Go to the locked Case record that you want to reassign. 2. Select **Edit**. 3. In the **Locked By** field, perform one of the following actions: * To reassign the Case, select the user to which you want to assign the locked Case. * To unlock the Case, clear this field. 4. Select **Save**. **Result** Only the user selected in the **Locked By** field can edit the Case. ## Unlock a Case 1. From the **Cases** tab, open the locked Case record that you want to unlock. 2. From the **All Actions** menu, select **Unlock Case**.
This user action may not be configured or may be labeled differently, depending on your Vault's configuration. If the action is configured but you don't see it, you may not have sufficient privileges. **Result** The Case is unlocked and available for users to make changes. The **This Case is Locked** section disappears. ## Strict Case Locking If your organization requires added security and restrictions on _Case_ editing permissions, your Admin can enable strict _Case_ locking, which applies to all _Cases_ in your Vault. This prevents users from editing _Cases_ and _Case_-descendant records unless the user is assigned to that _Case_ in the _Locked By_ field. When a _Case_ is [locked to a specific user][1], only that user can initiate certain actions and updates for the _Case_, including updating the _Narrative Preview_ field when upversioning narrative documents. If you are not assigned in the _Locked By_ field and try to save edits on a record protected by strict _Case_ locking, Vault displays the following message: `You cannot edit the Case or Case related records that are not locked to you. Lock the Case and try again.`
Similarly, you can also restrict access to _Inbox Items_. For more information, see Strict Inbox Item Locking. [1]: #lock-case