Document libraries can be set up to work with major and minor versions of documents, enabling a clear separation between drafts and published versions. Minor versions are also known as draft versions, while major versions are known as published versions. Users who have permission to read content but do not have permission to see draft items will see the last major version of the document.

If the document is a checked-in minor version (draft), the Publish a Major Version item is available on the document context menu. Selecting it updates the document version to the next major (published) version.

Publishing documents that require content approval

SharePoint uses the concept of drafts for other types of documents – newly created and updated documents in libraries that require content approval. Such documents are also labeled as draft.

If major and minor versions are being tracked in a document library that requires content approval, the author must publish the document before it can be submitted for approval. By selecting Publish a Major Version from the document context menu, the document is moved to the pending state. From here, the document can be Approved or Rejected. To learn more about how to approve documents with Document Collaboration, read the help topic Approving documents.