Overview
Check-Out Behavior can be adjusted by file type in the client side Desktop Settings:
User Specific Settings User Guide Link
However, this can also be adjusted via registry key if you want this to be adjusted centrally via GPO or similar.
Solution
To check documents out, a registry key needs to be set for each file extension, an example is as follows for .doc Word documents -
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Motive\M-Files\<M-Files Version>\Client\Common\NonVaultSpecifics\CheckoutPromptByFileExt\.doc]
"Behavior"=dword:00000000
The Behavior can be set to work in the following ways -
00000000 = Always Check Out
00000001 = Always Read Only
00000002 = Ask (default)
For this, you'll probably have to add CheckoutPromptByFileExt as a Key, .doc as a Key under that, and Behavior as a DWORD
