When you check a file in to the shared folder, it is moved from your user folder into the shared folder and becomes available to anyone who has access to the project. The file's status becomes Checked In. All files that exist in the shared folder have an icon with two faces next to them. This indicates that a version of the file is available to other users.

When you have changed a file or created a new one and you want that file to be available to other users, you must check it in to the shared area. This is particularly important if you are working on a project with other people. A number of activities default to using files from the user's working folder if they exist, so it is important that you check in any files that you have in your user folder, so that other users can then check them out from the shared folder into their own user folders before starting work.

For recommendations about when to check in files, see When to check files in and out.