Ways to Fix Read Only Mode When Opening MS Word – When you open a document in MS Word but cannot edit it later, it is because the document may be locked so that it cannot be edited by someone or certain features.
7 Ways to Fix Read Only Mode When Opening MS Word 2022
Overcoming how to remove the read-only status in Word will help you to be able to edit these documents even though they are already in Read-Only mode and shouldn’t be editable while in that state.
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There are various reasons why people restrict their documents from being edited. Maybe you yourself made the document in Read-Only status but have forgotten. Or maybe someone locked it to make sure no one else could modify the content in the document.
Either way, if you find a document that needs editing but is still in read-only mode, there are various methods to get around it in order to get rid of the read-only in Ms. Word and to be able to edit the document.
Eliminating Read Only in Word By Disabling Restrict Editing
We’ll try to get rid of read-only by disabling Word’s built-in feature that allows users to restrict their documents from being modified.
If you or someone has enabled this option for a word document, that is why you cannot edit the word file.
Disabling this feature should solve this problem.
- Open a read-only word document using the MS program. Word.
- When it opens, look for the Developer tab which is above the Ms. option. Word, right next to the View tab.
- In the Protect section option, please click Restrict Editing.
- Later a new panel will appear, on that panel click the Stop Protection button.
- If prompted for a password, you must enter it in the box displayed on the screen. Then click OK to unlock the document.
- Then your word document can be edited and modified at will because it is no longer in Read-Only mode.
- Done.
Deactivating Trust Center To Eliminate Read Only On Ms. Word
Trust Center is featured on Ms. Word that blocks certain documents from being fully editable when opened with a computer. You can disable this feature in this program and may be able to handle read-only word documents.
OK, just go straight to the steps you should follow below.
- Open the first Ms. program. Word on your computer, PC, or laptop.
- On the left side of the MS window. For the most populous Word Options, please click on that section. (If using Word 2013, please open a blank document first > Click File on the top menu of Ms. Word).
- Next, please look again at the left side of the window that opens, select the Trust Center option there, and don’t forget to click on that section.
- Next, please click on the Trust Center Settings button there.
- On the left side panel, please select and click on the Protected View section.
- In the panel on the right, you will see three checkboxes that are activated. Clear each of these checkboxes to prevent Word from opening the document in read-only or document-protected view. Then click OK at the bottom to save the changes.
- Next, try to open the read-only word document earlier, then your word should be editable.
Resolving Open Word in reading Only Mode Coming From Email Attachments.
MS Word actually has a number of features to protect your device from various viruses and malware threats that are spread via Word files. One of these features is to open the results of email attachments that you get in Read-Only mode so that if there is a virus or malware it cannot directly affect the computer.
Because there are some people who receive emails from friends, relatives, or co-workers whose contents may be word document files. And when you download the file from an email, sometimes the word document opens in reading the Only mode to prevent various virus threats.
If you don’t want to open the word document from the email earlier in reading the Only mode, you can use the methods and steps below so that the word file opens normally and can be edited.
- Open the Ms. program first. Word.
- In the panel on the left side, please select and click on the Options section. (If using Word 2013, please open a blank document first > Click File on the top menu of Ms. Word).
- Continue by selecting and clicking on the General section on the left side panel of the word window.
- Furthermore, in the Start-Up Options section, it will appear that all the checkboxes that are there are already checked.
- Your task is to uncheck the Open e-mail attachments and other uneditable files in the reading view section.
- Then click OK to finish.
- Done.
The word document file that you received from the email attachment should now be open in normal mode which was originally set in read-only mode, and should also be editable as usual.
Disable Preview Pane in File Explorer
The preview pane in File Explorer displays a preview of your file, and to preview it, sometimes it can lock the file and prevent you from editing it.
To overcome this is very easy, you only need to disable it. How?
- First, open File Explorer on your PC.
- Then at the top of the File Explorer menu, select it and click on the View tab.
- Then in the Panes section, please click Preview Pane to disable it if the feature was previously active. If active it is marked with a blue background around the Preview Pane button.
- Done
Try opening the word document file that was in the Read Only status, maybe you can handle it if you use this method. If it doesn’t solve read-only, continue to the next method below.
Removing the Read-Only Attribute in Word in Properties
One possible way to fix the read-only mode in Word is to change the attributes for your file.
- Right-click on the word document by reading the Only status.
- Then select the Properties option.
- Check Read Only in the Attributes section and then click Ok.
- then reopen Properties, now uncheck Read-Only and click OK.
- Done.
Now, please open your word document, then the word file that is in read-only mode can be opened normally and can also be edited at will as usual.
Extract Document Files Before Opening in MS. Word
If you are trying to edit a Word file that is in an archived format such as RAR or ZIP, you must first extract the file and then edit it. Opening files directly from the archive sometimes prevents you from being able to edit them because they are in read-only mode.
- Please right-click on the archive in the form of a Rar or Zip file in which there is a word document.
- Select Extract Here.
- After extracting, please open the document in Word so that it can be edited as needed.
- Done.
Overcoming Read-Only with Notepad / Wordpad.
You can also try this last method to solve the read-only word so that you can edit and copy and paste at will using only the default application from Windows. Please follow the steps below.
- Please open your word document which is still in read-only mode with Ms. Word.
- Then click Save As with type Web Page (* .htm, * .html) and close the word document.
- Open the file that was saved with type Web Page using Notepad / Wordpad.
- When it opens, please press Ctrl + F to use the Find feature.
- Look for the word ” protection ” using the Find field earlier.
- Please delete the following lines.
w:DocumentProtection Forms w:DocumentProtection
w:UnprotectPassword C788CE88 w:UnprotectPassword
- After the two lines are deleted, click Save and close the notepad.
- Next, please open the file that was edited earlier using Ms. Word document, then the Word document should be able to be edited as usual in normal mode.
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Closing
Those are the 7 ways that you can use to solve the problem of word documents that are in read-only mode and then re-edit them as usual. I think one of the seven methods above will solve your word-read-only document problem.
Finally, if you have complaints and questions, just comment below this article. I will try to answer them as quickly as I can within 1 × 24 hours.
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