Problem

This article was written for Users or Admins who need to check in files when there is no access to the Source Computer or the User has a file checked out.

There are many reasons to check in a file from a different machine/user. If the machine has crashed, the user is no longer with the company, the user is on vacation, or even if important files were on a machine that was taken for a business trip.

Solution 1: Access to the Source Computer but not the User Profile

The Administrator of the PDM Vault has the ability to check in a file that was checked out by another user. This would be the recommended option if possible, as it will preserve any changes made by the user. Alternatively, the Administrator can change the user's password, allowing them to log in as the user on their machine in the case they are not available.

Solution 2: No Access to the Source Computer

The Administrator of the PDM vault, along with any user with the proper Administrative Permissions, has the ability to check in files that are checked out by other users. Right-click on the file in the vault and select Undo Check Out. This will revert the file version to the last version that was checked into the vault, losing any local changes made by the user. The Permission needed for users to undo check out can be granted in the PDM Administrator tool under the user/group. 

Solution 3: File Access only

If we only have access to the file set but not the computer (Crashed machine but the Hard Drive was recovered, or the user provided the files without access to Vault), there are some workarounds to place the newest version into the vault.

The workflow that we recommend:

1. Have the newest version of the file saved locally outside of the vault.
2. Perform the action to undo the checkout by a user with the correct permissions.
3. Check out the file again, then place the local version into the vault and overwrite the file
4. Open the file to ensure references are correct and make any fixes as necessary
5. Check in the newer version of the file.

Solution 4: Transfer Ownership in SOLIDWORKS PDM 2026

Starting with SOLIDWORKS PDM 2026, there is a new feature called "Transfer Ownership". This allows users authorized to work with the files to right-click on them and select the option to transfer ownership so the files are checked out to them. 

The new owner can pick up the work, check it in, and the file’s history captures a clean timestamp of the handoff. This works because vault views are automatically synchronized to the archive server, so even if the original user’s computer is unavailable, their local data can still be recovered. There are two folder/state permissions that control the behavior:

• Can transfer ownership of files checked out by other users: Can be used whether someone is no longer with the company or if they’re just on vacation.
• Can transfer ownership of files checked out by current user: for the user with files checked out on a different machine (e.g., a laptop at home) who needs to pick up where they left off on a workstation in the office, without remoting into the original machine.

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.