This wikiHow teaches you how to remove the " Read Only " editing key from a Microsoft Word document. While you can't remove a read-only lock from an owner-locked Word document if you don't know the password, you can easily copy the document's text to a new Word file.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Disabling Protected View for Online Files
Step 1. Understand what documents might be protected
Any Microsoft Word document downloaded from the internet (such as an email attachment or a file from a website) has read-only protection whenever you open it. You can disable this protection when you open the document for the first time.
Step 2. Open the Word document
Double-click the read-only Word document that you want to delete.
If the Word document is already open, close and reopen the document
Step 3. Look for a pale yellow banner
If you see a yellow banner with the message " Files from the Internet can contain viruses " at the top of your Word document, your document's read-only status can be removed using this method.
If the banner does not appear, even after the document is closed and reopened, try one of the other methods described in this article
Step 4. Click Enable Editing
This button is to the right of the banner. After that, the Word document will be reloaded and read-only protection will be removed from the document. Now, you can edit the document.
Method 2 of 4: Disabling Protected View for Files with Password
Step 1. Open a Word document
Double-click the Word document with the protection you want to remove. After that, the document will open in a Word window.
Step 2. Click the Review tab
It's a tab in the upper-right corner of the Word window. After that, the toolbar” Review ” will appear at the top of the Word window.
Step 3. Click Restrict Editing
This option is at the far right of the toolbar " Review " Once clicked, a pop-out menu will appear on the right side of the window.
Step 4. Click Stop Protection
It's at the bottom of the pop-out menu. Now, you can see a pop-up window.
If you or another user on the computer account creates passwordless protection, the protection will be removed immediately after the “ Stop Protection ” clicked.
Step 5. Enter the password when prompted
Type the document password in the "Password" text field, then click " OK " After that, the read-only lock on the Word document will be removed if the correct password is entered.
If you don't know the password, you will need to copy and paste the contents of the file into a new document
Step 6. Save changes
Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac) to save changes. From now on, files will not be protected by read-only locks unless you re-enable editing protection.
Method 3 of 4: Changing File Properties
Step 1. Go to the desired Word document
Locate the desired Word document storage folder.
If the document is not stored on your computer (eg on a fast drive or CD), move the file to your computer before continuing
Step 2. Open the Word file properties window
This process will differ depending on the computer's operating system:
- Windows - Click the Word file once, right-click the file, and select “ Properties ” in the drop-down menu.
- Mac - Click the Word file, select the “ File ” in the upper-left corner of the Mac computer screen, and click “ Get Info ”.
Step 3. Locate the "Permissions" section
On Windows computers, these appropriate options are in the “Attributes” section at the bottom of the “Properties” window.
On Mac computers, you need to click on the “ Sharing & Permissions ” at the bottom of the window.
Step 4. Disable read-only or read-only protection
Again, this process will differ depending on the operating system you are using (eg Windows or Mac):
- Windows - Uncheck the " Read-only " box at the bottom of the window, click “ Apply, and click " OK ”.
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Mac - Click the option “ Read ” to the right of the file name, then click “ Read & Write ” in the displayed menu.
You may need to click the padlock icon in the lower-left corner of the “Get Info” window and enter your Mac's password before performing this step
- If the options appear blurry, unmarked, or not set to " Read-only ", you should try copying and pasting the contents of the file into another document.
Step 5. Try editing the file
Open a Word document by double-clicking it, then try editing the document. Note that you may need to remove the online read-only lock before you can edit the file.
Method 4 of 4: Copy and Paste Content
Step 1. Understand how this method works
If your primary goal is to edit a Word document, you can copy the text of the Word document and paste it into a new document, and then save the new document to your computer. While this method cannot remove read-only protection from the original, you can make an editable copy of the document.
Step 2. Open the protected Word document
Double-click the document to open it.
Step 3. Click any part of the document
After that, the cursor will be placed on the document page.
Step 4. Select all documents
Press the Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) key combination to select all content. Now, all parts of the document will be marked.
Step 5. Copy the selected text
Press the Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) key combination. After that, the text of the document will be copied to the clipboard of the computer.
Step 6. Open a new Word document
Click the menu File ” in the upper-left corner of the Word window, click “ New ” on the left side of the window, and select “ Blank documents ” to open a blank Word document.
On a Mac computer, click the “ File, then click " New Blank Document ” at the top of the drop-down menu.
Step 7. Paste the copied text
Press the Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) key combination to paste the locked document text into a new, blank document.
This process may take a few seconds if the original is large enough or contains images
Step 8. Save the document as a new file
Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac), enter a document name, then click “ Save After that, you can edit the document that has been created as usual.
