SharePoint Online And Word "Conflict Resolution"

I've been asked several times lately "how does Microsoft Word  work with SharePoint Online and multiple people editing the document at the same time?"  Word Online makes this incredibly easy - in fact, you can both "see" each other in the document making edits in real time.

But what about when 2 people are editing a Word document from SharePoint Online while using the full Word desktop application?

If two people open the same Word document in the desktop app, you will see a visual indicator in the bottom-left corner of Word informing you there are 2 people editing the document.

As the other person starts to "edit" a section in your Word doc (usually the paragraph), Word will show you a visual indication that the paragraph has been edited by the other user.  When you see these brackets, you should not edit the section - the other user has edits waiting to be saved:

If the other user then "saves" that edit, you will then see the "refresh" icon next to the bracket.  This will inform you that an edit is waiting for you to refresh. 

Finally, when you save, the edits waiting at the server are downloaded, and merged with your document.  The paragraph will then be updated, and the bracket will disappear:

What if there is a "save conflict"?

If there is a conflict (both you, and the other user, edited the save paragraph and "saved"), you will then see the normal Word Conflict Resolution panel:

If you "click" on one of the listed conflicts, it will take you to that part of the document.  Then, you will visually "see" the current state of the document, as well as the "conflict" in question.  You can right-click on the conflict to either Accept or Reject your changes.  Accepting overrides what is currently there.  Rejecting reverts back to the current state of the paragraph:

Once all of your conflicts are resolved, you can go back to editing your document as normal.

Note:  This only works while 2 people are editing the document directly from SharePoint Online.  If you are using OneDrive For Business, and you opened the file from the local cached files list, you will not see this functionality.