In a typical document library of SharePoint MOSS2007, when use “Upload Multiple Files”, or use drag & drop in Explorer View, you can upload multiple files or folder easily. However sometimes the files are kept in “Checked out” mode and will not be available for others until they are checked in. Unfortunately SharePoint doesn’t have a “bulk check-in” function. So how do you have the files automatically checked in?
The key is in the setting “Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited” – this has to be “No”. Change it through “Document Library Settings”->”Versioning Settings”. The option is at the bottom.
Another setting that could prevent files to be auto checked in is the required columns. Make sure you turn off all mandatory columns, or give them a default value.
Other settings in “Versioning Settings” (such as Content Approval, version numbers etc) do not matter.
SharePoint, ASP.NET and more 
In my testing, the “Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited” setting does NOT actually affect this. Documents uploaded without required properties are automatically checked out regardless of the forced checkout setting. Does the behavior in your installation differ?
As stated in my last paragraph, if you have blank required properties, your files will be left checked out even you have the other setting correct. So, you have to have both conditions satisfied for a file to be checked in automatically.
I had a client that wanted this exact behavior. They wanted to require check-out before editing a document and wanted versioning enabled, but still wanted to be able to have all files “automatically” checked in when a user added a document to the document library via the standard SharePoint UI, the Windows Explorer View of the document library, and the Office 2007 applications.
We tried everything on thins, including developing custom event handlers and workflows to automate the document check-in process but to no avail. We eventually had to get the Microsoft SharePoint development team involved. Their final assessment was that, “It is not possible to suppress the out-of-the-box check-in mechanism and that any modifications attempting to do so will lead to a scenario where SharePoint is no longer supported by Microsoft.”
It should be noted that the order of the events that fire when a document is added to a SharePoint document library is slightly different depending on which mechanism (standard SharePoint UI, the Windows Explorer View of the document library, Office 2007 applications) is used.
There is a way to conduct a bulk check-in of documents via the “Site Content and Structure” administrative functionality, but this is probably to advanced for most casual, day-to-day users.
My suggestion is to really work with your end users to see if they truly need check-in/check-out enabled for their documents.
Hope this helps.
Your instructions worked perfectly for me.
Thank you!
Thanks very much!
Uour comments resolv my problem….
Thanks, thanks thanks
Worked like a champ for me. Wow what a relief.
You have confirmed my greatest fears. I have users that have uploaded 100+ folders in a deep tree structure. I am giving them the “Content and Structure” link, but the process to check in all files will still be lengthy.
I have a reuired column for document library which chooses the project from exisiting list. if i tried to upload multiple documents to the library it allows to upload but all files are checked for the user by default.
1. What is the way to automatically checkd in all files. And
2. How can i set the default value for the lookup column.
Another area that baffles me who the members of the Product Group for Sharepoint are. Seems these people really have no real world user or business acumen or were never in an environment dealing with real users and just not Microsoft employee testers. They really need real world administrator type beta testers.
Fully agree with last comment. It is very difficult to get users to work with Sharepoint with these restrictions.
It is great to see this solution. Currently I am using SharePoint Batch In( http://www.sharepointboost.com/batch-check-in.html)which accelerates the work greatly. That being said, your solution is greater then I expect.
Try this out..
Download “WSS Only STSADM Extensions (x86, x64)” from the link below:
http://stsadm.blogspot.com/2009/02/downloads.html
2- Install it using the instructions provided on the same page.
3- Use the following command to check-in the documents in a particular document library.
Please note you will have to use this on a COMMAND LINE.
Stsadm –o gl-publishitems –url URLForDocLib –scope List
Please keep in mind, that modified and modified by columns might be changed to the user who is logged in i.e. sharepointadmin.
I am having the same problem, and understand if this is just by poor design on Microsofts part. Is there a reason why my users get a access denied page when they try to manually check in each file (from the bulk upload)?
It’s crazy, but they get this when they haven’t added a Title to the document. Hover over the document in question and hot the dropdown arrow, select Edit Properties and add a Title (we simply copy the document name and paste it into the Title field. The document can now be checked in without error.
Automatic check out?
Hi, Do I have to click on check out file and then click on the document again to open it?
I’ve used Sharepoint before and one click checked it out and opened it before. Do you know what has changed?
Thanks
There is a way to conduct a bulk check-in of documents via the “Site Content and Structure” administrative functionality, but this is probably to advanced for most casual, day-to-day users.
This worked for me. Thanks.
Thank you for posting this. It was very helpful. I keep reading how there is no bulk check in, but that’s exactly what we can do with the Site Content and Structure functionality.
The suggested method worked for me. Make sure you set it to “No” before uploading the documents. (And change it back when you’re done.)
Will this work if I change the setting AFTER the users have already loaded files? Meaning, will those files automatically be checked in, or do they have to touch them again? Thanks.
thanks a lot !!! this really saved me a huge pain!! you rock!!!
cheers my friend!
jay
Excellent. Edward thanks for your comment about changing back afterwards. I was afraid I was stuck in the other mode and almost did not check this solution.
Gordon
Thanks alot!! This save me alot of anguish and pain.
To check-in multiple files:
Under Site Actions, select Site Settings
Under Site Administration, Click Content and Structure
Change View: Default View to View: Checked Out to Me
Select the items you wish to check in
Select Actions > Check In
To check-in files en mass:
Under Site Actions, select Site Settings
Under Site Administration, Click Content and Structure
Change View: Default View to View: Checked Out to Me
Select the items you wish to check in
Select Actions > Check In
Thanks P,
Shame the product does not just check a doc in when you load it. Useability is a secondary thought
Would you please provide instruction on how to access the “Document Library Settings”->”Versioning Settings? I have “Full Control” permissions and was told I’m an admin… however, since I can’t see the menu you mentioned, I’m beginning to think I’m not a true admin…
thanks!
You just saved my coworkers from checking in over a hundred files. Thanks!
What we did is creating a workflow which is executed on “Start this workflow when a new item is created.”. This workflow contains c# code that determines whether the document is checked out and if so, checks it in.
Guess what, this is useless for the common user. I can’t believe microsoft didn’t have the forethought to allow the user to upload and check-in multiple files at once. This has created hours of headaches at my work. They can’t expect the site owner to change settings back and fourth every time a user needs to upload multiple files.
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