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I’m facing an issue with SharePoint document libraries. When a file in the library is locked, I am unable to:

  • Update the corresponding record
  • Delete the record I understand that the lock prevents changes to the file itself, but I need to be able to update or delete the list/library item even if the file is locked. Has anyone encountered this issue before? Is there a way to handle this scenario via:
  • Power Automate
  • SharePoint API
  • Dynamics 365 integration
  • Any other method Any guidance or workaround would be greatly appreciated!
  1. Standard Power Automate Actions
  • Update file properties → failed (423 Locked)
  • Delete file using Delete File connector → failed (423 Locked)
  • Move / Copy file → failed (SPFileLockException)
  1. Retry / Delay Attempts
  • Added 20–30 sec Delay in Flow → did not resolve the lock
  • Applied retry policy → not fully reliable
  1. SharePoint Settings
  • Checked if co-authoring lock can be disabled → not possible
  1. REST API Attempts
  • CheckOut → worked only if file wasn’t already locked by another user
  • UndoCheckout → sometimes worked, sometimes returned “file not checked out”
  • CheckIn → tried with checkintype=2 (force) → failed if file not checked out
  • ReleaseLock → not supported (404 error)
  • Move / Copy via API → failed due to lock
  1. Other Attempts

Trying to delete file while locked → always failed (SPFileLockException)

Overwriting file content via PUT → successful in clearing Excel Online locks

Then attempted delete/recycle → worked after overwriting

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Have you looked into using the prefer: bypass-shared-lock, bypass-checked-out header in the Graph API requests? I came across it in the driveitem-delete documentation as can be seen here: Delete a DriveItem or see the quote below

Header Name Description
prefer String. Optional. A value of bypass-shared-lock bypasses any shared locks on the driveItem (for example, from a coauthoring session). A value of bypass-checked-out bypasses the checkout condition on the driveItem. Multiple comma-separated values are allowed.

This was useful to me when deleting and moving Word documents that are still being edited/open in the user's browser. Without the header I would get a 423 Locked response.

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