June 8, 2012

Word Document Protection

Filed under: Main — Tags: — admin @ 12:01 am

For the longest time I can remember, PC users have clamored for password-protected files and folders. In Microsoft Word (and I’m assuming Excel and other Office apps as well), you can protect your documents with passwords. I don’t recommend doing so, but the feature is available.

There’s a reason I don’t recommend password-protecting your Word documents. It’s the same reason I don’t put this information in my Word For Dummies books: If you forget the password, you’re screwed.

I can’t help you when you forget a document’s password.

Microsoft can’t help you.

No one can help you.

Trust me: I’ve received emails from people who forgot their document passwords. There’s nothing that can be done. It’s that serious.

Now that I’ve frightened you, if you want to slap down that password, follow these steps:

In Word 2007, click the Office Button menu thing, then choose the Prepare item.

In Word 2010, click the File tab. Choose the Info item, then choose Permissions.

There are two items you can use to protect your document:

Mark As Final. This item declares the document to be read-only. It can be opened, printed, even have the text copied, but you cannot modify the document.

Encrypt with Password / Encrypt Document. The more severe item, this setting applies a full-on password to the document. You cannot open the document — even to peek — unless you know the password. If you love typing passwords, and can remember them all, then this is probably the setting you want.

I strongly recommend that you write down the password before you apply it to the document. Keep that record handy. Forgetting the password is an unforgivable offense.

Final note: I’ve never password-protected or made any of my documents read-only. Nope. I don’t see the need. My computer has a password, so if someone is going to get into my house, break into my office, sit down at the computer, figure out the password, then access my Word documents, well, at that point what’s to stop them?

But seriously, don’t use these document protection tricks unless you really, really need to.

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