Stop others editing Word documents

Launch Word 2007 and create and save a document. Next, click the Office button at the top right and choose Prepare. When the submenu opens click Encrypt Document and when the dialogue box opens, type in a password and click OK. Then type in the password again and click OK. In Word 2003, click the Tools menu and choose Options. When the dialogue box opens, click the Security tab and then type the password into the empty File encryption box and click OK. Retype the password when asked and click OK again.

When someone else tries to open that document they will be asked for the password. If they don’t know it, the document will not open. Alternatively, if you would like others to be able to read the document but remind them that they shouldn’t change it, try this. In Word 2007, click the Office button and choose Save As. At the dialogue box, click the Tools button and choose General Options from the menu; at the next dialogue box put a tick next to the ‘Read-only recommended’ option and click OK.

To do the same in Word 2003, click Tools, choose Options click the Security tab, then put a tick next to ‘Read-only recommended’ and click OK. This setting will not prevent someone from editing the document. Instead, when they open it Word displays a dialogue box warning that the document should be opened as read-only unless changes to it need to be saved. When someone clicks Yes and tries to edit and save the document, Word reminds them that the file cannot be edited. To save their changes they will need to give the document a new name.

It’s also possible to allow someone to change the document’s content while preventing any changes to the formatting. In Word 2007 open a document and click the Review tab. Click the Protect Document icon in the ribbon bar to open the Restrict Formatting and Editing task pane. Put a tick next to the first option – ‘Limit formatting to a selection of styles’ – and then click the Settings link underneath to select those styles they can edit. In Word 2003, click Tools, Options, select the Security tab and click the Protect Document button.

Click OK and if Word displays a message warning ‘This document may contain formatting or styles that are not allowed. Do you want to remove them?’ click No. Then click the button marked ‘Yes, start enforcing protection’ in the task pane and type in a password (twice) to protect the document. Now, when someone opens it the task pane on the right opens as well, warning that it’s protected against unintentional editing. Try right-clicking on a word and changing the font. The option will be greyed out, preventing the attempt.

Click Stop Protection when done and retype the password to unlock the document. Similarly, to unlock a document that you have previously password protected (see Step 1), open the document and type in the password. Click the Office button and choose Prepare and then Encrypt Document. When the dialogue box opens, highlight and delete the password and click OK to remove it. In Word 2003, open the document using the password click Tools, Options, click the Security tab, highlight the password and delete it, then click OK.