After you install File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360®, and you open a document in AutoCAD that is stored in BIM 360, the document is automatically locked so no one else can edit it while you have it open. While you have the document locked, your changes will be saved to BIM 360 and other team members working in the BIM 360 project can open the document in read-only. When you close the document, the document will be unlocked and someone else can open it for editing.

When you save a document to BIM 360 from AutoCAD, the document is uploaded to BIM 360 and is locked by you until you close it. 

You can view the document lock status in BIM 360 or in Windows Explorer. 

To install File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360®:

1. Close all running Autodesk applications.
2. Download FileLockingForBIM360.msi to any folder and then double-click the file.
   Note: After clicking Download, you can click Run to start the installation process without saving the file to a folder.
3. After the installation process has completed, start AutoCAD.
4. How to know the plugin is loaded? Enter APPAUTOLOADER at the command line and then enter LIST. C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\FileLockingForBIM360.bundle should be displayed at the command line.
5. If the plugin isn't loaded successfully, please check APPAUTOLOAD. Enter APPAUTOLOAD at the command line. The value should be set to 2, 4, 8, or 14.

Note: Autodesk Desktop Connector must also be installed on your computer. The version needs to be 12.5.0.999 or later.

To uninstall File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360®:

• In Windows Control Panel > Uninstall a Program, right-click "File Locking for BIM 360" and choose Uninstall.

When you have File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360® installed, you can use the CloudCollabModifiedOption system variable to control when documents (DWG files and DWT files) are unlocked in BIM 360 after they are closed in AutoCAD.

You can use the following settings for the CloudCollabModifiedOption system variable:

Note: Restart AutoCAD after changing the value of the CloudCollabModifiedOption system variable.

It is not supported to lock files when running Civil 3D as AutoCAD. To lock files, it is required to work in AutoCAD with the File Locking App installed or work in Civil 3D.

If you have AutoCAD 2021 ,2020 installed together with AutoCAD 2022 on the same machine, and wanted to enable file locking for AutoCAD 2021 or 2020, please make sure to install the version 2.2.0. (Version 1.0.0  of file locking app in this case will introduce unexpected locking behaviors on AutoCAD 2022.)

• Locking and unlocking is only supported for documents stored in BIM 360. Locking and unlocking is not supported for documents stored in BIM 360 Team or Autodesk Drive.
• If AutoCAD or Civil 3D is open when  File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360® is installed, AutoCAD or Civil 3D must be restarted.
• When the XLOADCTL system variable is set to 1, referenced files are not locked in BIM 360 (they are only locked in the local cache).
• Automatic locking and unlocking is not supported for DST (sheet set data) files.
• If you install an AutoCAD 2020 or 2021-based product after installing File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360®, the CloudCollabModifiedOption system variable cannot be modified in the newly installed product. To work around this issue, you can repair the installation of File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360® or you can uninstall File Locking for Autodesk® BIM 360® and reinstall it
• Crash or unhandled exceptions might be met when working on Civil 3D 2021.1 and 2021.2 installed with File Locking App, which is set to  'Run as AutoCAD'. The crash will be fixed in the future releases of Civil 3D from 2021 update 3.