The Benchling Sync app generally works with any desktop-based, file-editing application as it relies on the following process:
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Downloads the file (e.g. sheet.xlsx) to your computer.
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Opens the file in the default desktop application for the file type (e.g. Excel).
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Waits for edits to the file made via the desktop application.
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Uploads the files to Benchling's cloud.
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Benchling's Notebook syncs the uploaded file into your entry.
Manually verifying an app works
If the application is not listed below, be sure to do a quick verification that a simple edit is synced into your Notebook entry as explained in Editing files on the desktop. In particular, when checking in the file, you should see a message similar to:
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"This file was last synced just now" if the sync was successful ✅
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"This file was checked out just now... No edits were synced since checking out the file." under certain cases where a desktop application may be unable to save changes to the downloaded file. 💥
To remediate the above failure, try re-installing the app, reaching out to your IT department, or contacting Benchling for further support.
Note: Linux is currently not supported.
The following apps have been tested and verified for macOS, Windows 10, and Windows 11
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Microsoft Excel
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Microsoft Powerpoint
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Microsoft Word
Desktop Sync is also supported on various other applications. Please reach out to our support team if you have questions. Thank you.