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# Envelope Locks

> Describes the envelope locking feature, how to set a lock, and when you should lock an envelope.

## Envelope Locks

You can lock an envelope in the created (draft), sent, or delivered state so that only a specific user of a specific app can modify it. This enables you to prevent versioning conflicts, which may otherwise occur when multiple users access the envelope at the same time and each attempt to make changes.

You can lock an envelope by calling the [EnvelopeLocks:create](/docs/esign-rest-api/reference/envelopes/envelopelocks/create) method for it, specifying a duration and the name of the app creating the lock. If successful, the envelope will return a `lockToken`. Any subsequent API calls to modify the envelope will need to include this `lockToken` in an `X-DocuSign-Edit` header, or else the change call will be rejected with an `EDIT_LOCK_NOT_LOCK_OWNER` error.  When all edits are completed, you can use the `lockToken` to unlock the envelope using [EnvelopeLocks:delete](/docs/esign-rest-api/reference/envelopes/envelopelocks/delete).

The only ways to unlock the envelope, once locked, are using this `lockToken` to delete the lock or waiting until the lock time expires.

See [Common API Tasks: Locking and unlocking envelopes](https://www.docusign.com/blog/developers/dsdev-common-api-tasks-locking-and-unlocking-envelopes) for details.