# What a locked period looks like on the timesheet

**For:** Manager
**You'll need:** Nothing.

You'll learn how to spot rows that belong to a closed company period and how to unlock them when you really do need to make a change.

## How locked rows look

When a row's company period is closed:

- A banner at the top of the row's edit page reads "This period is locked."
- The clock-in / clock-out fields are read-only.
- The single-row **'Submit'**, **'Unsubmit'**, **'Approve'**, and **'Unapprove'** buttons are disabled.
- Bulk actions silently skip locked rows and report them in the summary.

If you try to act on a locked row anyway (e.g. by opening the row's URL directly), {{ app_name }} refuses the change and shows the "locked" banner instead.

## Why periods lock

Closing a company period freezes its time entries so payroll runs against a stable snapshot. Re-opening the period unfreezes them.

## How to unlock a period

1. In the left sidebar, go to **Company → Company periods**.
2. Find the period that covers the row's date.
3. Click **'Re-open'** on the period.
4. Make your changes on the timesheet.
5. Come back and click **'Close'** on the period when you're done.

```{warning}
Re-opening a closed period is an audited action. Do it only when you have to — payroll exports for that period may need to be re-run after your changes.
```

## Verify it worked

After re-opening, the row's edit page shows no banner, the fields are editable again, and the action buttons are enabled.

## Related

- {doc}`/set-up-your-company/company-periods/index`
- {doc}`bulk-actions`
- {doc}`edit-clock-in-clock-out`