A documents control apparatus includes an attribute sharing unit that shares an attribute of a document with another documents control apparatus, an edit processing unit that edits the attribute, and a switching unit that determines whether the attribute is shared with the other documents control apparatus. The switching unit switches the edit of the attribute based on the determination. If the attribute sharing unit does not share the attribute, the switching unit allows the edit processing unit to edit the attribute as requested. If the attribute sharing unit shares the attribute, the switching unit controls the operation of the edit processing unit.