1. How To Edit Protected Word Document

'Is it possible to edit a password protected word document? An important doc file is locked for editing but I forgot the password.' This so-called password protection setting is made for protecting the word document itself, but sometimes you may forget the password and need to redact or modify the word files.So here we will introduce 5 solutions to edit a protected or locked word document.Part 1. For Word Document Protected by Read-Only Password #1 Save Word as Another FileUnder the condition of knowing nothing about the password, although in Read-only mode you can't modify content, you can remove this protection by Save as the option.The steps to edit the protected word document are as follows:Step 1.

Open the password-protected Word document.Step 2. Click on File on the top and choose Save as.Step 3. Change another name for this new document and click on Save.Now you can try to open and edit the newly saved document.#2 Remove the Password ProtectionIt is internal protection that causes failure of the edition. Therefore, to edit a password protected Word document, we can remove the protection by following steps:Note: If your Word document has been encrypted for its opening, then this method is not workable. And, make sure that one editor has been installed on your PC because such an approach requires an editor.Step 1.

Open the Word document which is locked, click on Review, and then click on Restrict Editing. Press 'CTRL + A' or click on Home → Select →Select All, to select all the content of this document. I am using Word 2007 and this is saved as.doc, probably 97-2003. How can I unlock this thing? Edit: Also, all but a few of the ribbon menu items are disabled. I can't change page layout, text formatting, or anything that pertains to modifying the document.

Open the protected file.Step 2. Navigate to File and choose Save as.Step 3. Save the document as 'Rich-Text-Format (.rtf)' and then close the document.Step 4. Open the newly saved.rtf file with an Editor.Step 5. Then tap Ctrl + F to search 'passwordhash' and change it to other words like 'nopassword' and save the settings.Step 6. Now close the file and open it again in Word.Step 7. Click on Review section and click on 'Restricted Editing' and then 'Stop Protection' (including uncheck the options marked in the picture).Step 8.

You have removed the protection in the document now and you can re-save it again to its original format.#3 Use Password to Unlock WordThat would be more fortunate and easier to unlock a word document for editing if you have already known the password. There are three simple steps to do so:Step 1. Open the protected Word document and navigate to the Review section.Step 2. Click on 'Restricted Editing' and then 'Stop Protection'.Step 3. Type the password when you are asked to do.Then the protection will be removed or stopped after your confirmation. And you can edit a word doc now.Part 2.

For Word Files Protected with Editing RestrictionTo edit a locked Word document, we can get help from Wordpad, a Free Word Processing Tool in Office Word, which helps to remove the editing restrictions.Step 1. Right click on the locked document and choose Wordpad to open it.Step 2. Next, you will be asked to save the document or save a copy as you like.Step 3. After saving the document, the editing restriction has been successfully removed.That's easy to, isn't it?Part 3. For Doc Protected via Final or Protected View'Marked As Final' is also another edit restriction settings.

To edit protected Word documents, we can cancel this option. Of course, every version of Word is slightly different in how to uncheck this setting.In Office 2016When you open a Word document, which has been marked as final, you will notice a tip that 'An author has marked this document as final to discourage editing'. You just need to click on 'Edit Anyway' button on the right and then you can start your edition.In Office 2007In this version, several steps need to take to cancel this Save as Final setting:Open the target document Click on Office icon on the top-left corner Choose Prepare option You will find the Save As Final has been selected Uncheck the option and your document can be edited again.Part 4.

For Microsoft Word in the View ModeProtected View is the most important security improvement in Office 2010. Simply put, 'Protected View' means that when you open a Web document Office document, Office 2010 will automatically enter a Read-only mode. It is also handy to get permissions to edit the locked document again without a password.#1 Enable EditingA yellow reminder will pop up on the top to inform potential threats in edition when you open a protected document. Only by clicking on the 'Enable Editing' button can it be edited normally.(This method is available for Microsoft Office Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word 2007.)#2 Uncheck Protected ViewThe above method introduces how to be permitted to edit the locked document, while in order to unlock word document for editing in Word 2010 & Word 2013.Step 1.

How To Edit Protected Word Document

Open the Word document and choose File on the top-left corner.Step 2. Click on the Options button at the bottom.Step 3. Select Trust Center at the bottom of the left list and click on Trust Center Settings button.Step 4. Move to Protected View and uncheck all three boxes on the right.Step 5. Click on OK to save the settings.Part 5. For Word Protected by an Open PasswordIn any case, most of you prefer recovering the password to obtain a more reliable guarantee, which seems to be the user's consistent preference. So, in solving the problem of editing locked Word document, we also provide a way to retrieve passwords and, let's take a look at it.#1 Password Genius (all Word versions)It's not difficult to recover the password in the end.

Here we can use professional software to do it. Without trendy interfaces, Password Genius indeed provides powerful functions for password recovery, featuring a high recovery rate. And it also supports other file types besides Word.Now let's see how to recover Word password with it!Step 1. Download and install Password Genius on your PC, and then launch it.Step 2. Choose 'Recover Password for Files and Archives' and then 'Word Password Recovery' mode.Step 3.

Click on the folder icon where you can locate and select the target document you want to recover.Step 4. Choose Type of Attack based on your own situation. (There are 4 major cases provided.)Step 5.

Now after your choice and settings, you can click on the Start button. (Stop button is provided for a temporary pause of the progress.)Step 6.

Once the recovery finishes, you can see the password from the prompt. Click the Copy button and Open the Word document. Now you can type the password to edit the locked word file.4 Major Cases of Type of Attack1. Brute-forceIn this option, you have to detail the Length and Range, which contributes to lessening the time.2. MaskThere would be several steps more in this case. Apart from choosing under the Range section, you are asked to type the number you know about the password and type '?' For the unknown ones.3.

DictionaryAs the term suggests, this case will refer to some sources for password recovery. You either can use the provided default dictionary or create a unique TXT file where you need to input all passwords that you think possible. And then click on 'Select Dictionary' to select the TXT file.4. SmartIn this case, nothing needs to be set, and what you have to do is just clicking on the 'Start' button to begin the progress.#2 Clear Password EncryptionAfter password recovery, you can use it to remove password encryption by:Step 1. Typing the password to opening Word document, choosing File and then clicking on Info.Step 2.

Find Protect Document and then select Encrypt with PasswordStep 3. Clean the box of the password and click on OK to save this setting.Tada! You've successfully.The Bottom LineAnyway, it's good to be able to edit a protected or locked word document successfully. It's also good to solve a problem and learn a skill at the same time. But when using the protection function in the future, we must keep the password in mind. Otherwise, it would waste time to decrypt or remove the protection.That's all. If there is anything you want to speak out and share, leave a comment below.

Modified: November 7th, 2014 MS Word documents are widely used to store vital information of users. Sometimes few of those files carry sensitive information and thus require to be protected. For such scenarios MS Word itself provides a brilliant opportunity for users to lock and unlock the word files so that data cannot be altered or misused by any unauthorized users. The following segment of this guide will help you to rightly perform the process of locking Word files as well as unlocking word files.

How To Lock MS Word Files?Users can protect the word files data by applying a password to them. By doing this whenever user tries to open the word file, MS Word will prompt for password to open respective file. Let us tell you how, open the document that you want to lock and click on ‘Save As’ option. Now a dialogue box appears on your screen, click on “Tools” option provided at the bottom left part of the dialogue box.Clicking on ‘Tools’ option will provide you list of options, choose ‘General Options’ from the list and proceed further.When you will click on General Options, a new dialogue box will open and prompt you two fields i.e. Password to open and Password to modify.Now provide a password to “Password To Open” field that will restrict users to open MS Word files. And at the same time provide a password to “Password To Modify” option to restrict users to alter any content of Word files. Click on ‘Ok’ to complete the process of locking word files.There is also a second method to lock word files in MS Word which is as follows:Open MS Word file and go to ‘Review’ tab (The following screenshot is valid for MS Word 2010).

Under review tab go to Protect Then click on ‘Restrict Editing’ option.Clicking on ‘Restrict Editing’ option will provide two options one as ‘Formatting restrictions’ and another is ‘Editing restrictions’. Enable option ‘Allow only this type of editing in this document’ and select option ‘No Changes (Read Only)’ from the list of options.Now move to the text part of the word file and select the portion of text which you don’t want to protect. You can use Control key to select the multiple portions of text.

The portion left unselected will get protected.Choose “Everyone” option provided under Exceptional (Optional) tab if you want to protect it from everyone. Else the option is a non mandatory field you can leave it as it is.Finally click on ‘Yes, Start Enforcing Protection’ to protect the word documents. Clicking on the option will appear a dialog box on your screen as shown below:Provide a password of your choice to protect the file and click on ‘Ok’ to proceed. The selected portions of your file get protected. How To Unlock A Word Document?After protecting a word document, whenever you open your file it will prompt you for password. Provide the password and open your document, but now we will show you how to unlock a word file in case if you require removing password restrictions from word document. Open the word file and provide a password to open.