Locked Lists

When you start a Live List, it begins locked — members can see it and use it, but they can't change what you wrote. That's deliberate: the common case is showing people a list you've made, not handing them the pen. If you want a genuinely collaborative list, unlocking is one step.

What the locks control

Open the list's manage sheet as the owner. Each switch applies to members — never to you:

• Adding is locked — members can't add new items.
• Editing is locked — members can't change item titles or details.
• Deleting is locked — members can't remove items.
• Hide dates — members don't see due dates (they're usually your own scheduling, and mean nothing to a reader). On by default.
• Hide notes — hides item notes from members. Off by default.

What's never locked

• Completing. Members can always tick items off — that's what the list is for. In select mode a member on a locked list can still select items to complete them; only move and delete are held back.
• Notes. Unless you hide them, members can always write notes — even on a fully locked list. Notes are where a shared list comes alive ("seen it, brilliant"), so they answer only to the Hide notes switch, never to Editing.

Good to know

• Locks only mean something while the list is live. A lock left over from a list that has stopped being shared never restricts you.
• Unlock and re-lock any time; it takes effect for members immediately.