Techniques are described for managing access and synchronization of one or more files of a document management system stored locally at a client device. The techniques may include receiving, by a document management system executing on a server device, a file update notification message from a first client device to notify the document management system that a file was modified by the first client device. The file update notification message may include an indication of the modified file on the first client device without including the modified file. The document management system may receive a file editing request from a second client device to request the file. In response, the document management system may send a file upload request to the first client device, receive the modified file from the first client device, and send the modified file to the second client device.