Microsoft Word 2007 Task
We have a Word 2007 document thate contains sensitive information and we need to restrict access to it. We want to allow people to open the document but we don’t want them to make any changes to it. How can we get Microsoft Word to do our bidding?
Here are a couple of thoughts:
- It is possible to lock the document with a password so that nobody will be able to open it.
- Additionally, you can also use the password to prevent the document from being changed. It can still be viewed, though. It’s only changes that are stopped.
Password Protecting
To password protect your document:
- Click on the Office button (the glossy orb) and select Save as.
- Sometimes an additional menu will pop up – ignore it if it does. Just click on the Save as button.
Next:
- In the new window that is displayed, click on the Tools button in the bottom left hand corner.
- When the new menu is displayed, select General Options.
We’re really rolling now:
- When the new window appears, enter your password.
- You can choose one of two options for the password: whether it’s required to open or modify the document. The choice is yours.
- When you have entered your password, click OK.
- Type in your password again to confirm it.
- Save the document and it will be password protected from now on.
If you need to remove the password, just repeat the steps outlined above, but instead of entering the password, blank it out.
Password Ptotecting Tips
- Bear in mind that the password protection offered by Microsoft Word is not too strong and can easily be broken. So if you need to email really sensitive documents, consider other encryption options.
- If you decide to use password protect your document against editing, you might also consider exporting it to PDF format. By default, you can’t edit a PDF document.
- The General options window also offers a Read-only recommended option. If this is selected, when the document is opened, the user can choose whether he or she wants to open it in read only only mode or in a mode where changes can be made.