Sometimes you might get a document that’s locked for editing, and you need to edit it. It may be that you get the password and then you can access it. However, sometimes you just don’t get it. Is there a way around the password so that you can actually use and edit the document the way you want? Well, the answer is that there is. Let’s go through how to get it done.
Why Is My Microsoft Word Locked and Won’t Let Me Type?
Although I’m not going to second guess anyone, there are definitely valid reasons why your document may be locked. It may be because they don’t want their document edited, perhaps they want to preserve the look of the document. They may have even done so by mistake. If you aren’t sure, it’s always best to check with the originator of the document to see why. It may save you a whole lot of trouble down the road.
In order to work out whether your document has been locked there are two ways to see it.
First of all you can try clicking anywhere on the document and start typing. What normally happens is that you will get the following message on the sidebar on the screen:
At the bottom of the sidebar you’ll see a small button labeled Stop protection. If you have the password of the document then you can enter it there and the document will be unlocked. You can then edit the document at will.
However, if you don’t have the password then you have to find a way around it.
How Do You Unlock a Word Document That Is Locked for Editing?
The first suggestion you may have is to simply save as the document in another name. unfortunately, this isn’t going to work and the document will remain locked. Although I have seen suggested that if you save it as a rich text file it will do the trick, unfortunately, this is no longer working.
What you can do though is select all the text in the file by pressing CTRL + A and then copying and pasting the text to a new document. I have checked this lots of times and it does work well.
I understand that you may want to work on the original, but in this case, I’m afraid that just isn’t possible.
How to Open a Microsoft Word Document That Is Locked for Opening
All the above works when you have a document that you are able to open but cannot edit. The story is vastly different when it comes to opening a word document that has been locked for opening with a password that you don’t know. Let’s first go through how to lock a document for opening as unlocking it (if you have the password is just the opposite).
How Do I Enable Protection in Word?
If you want to lock a document for opening do the following:
- Click on File in the ribbon and then on Info:
- On the pop-up window put in your password. There is no restriction on how you select your password. Just make sure you don’t forget it!
And that’s it. Pretty simple really.
How to Remove Protection for a Word Document
If you want to remove this password just do exactly the same as above but in the Encrypt Document popup window don’t put anything at all. Delete whatever is there. This removes the password protection.
However, doing this only helps and works if you have the password in the first place. Is there any option that you can use that will help you when you don’t have a password? The answer, believe it or not, is yes!
Using VBA to Unlock a Word Document
If you’ve never heard of VBA, don’t worry, there is nothing overly complicated about what I’m doing. It the thing that sits behind the program and we are going to create a script that runs to help you open your document.
- Open a word document, anyone will do.
- If you have the Developer tab in your menu then click on the Visual Basic button:
- If not, then press ALT + F11.
- A new window opens up. You need to insert a new module from the menu:
In the new module that has opened paste the following:
Sub test()
Dim i As Long
i = 0
Dim FileName As String
Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogOpen).Show
FileName = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogOpen).SelectedItems(1)
ScreenUpdating = False
Line2: On Error GoTo Line1
Documents.Open FileName, , True, , i & ""
MsgBox "Password is " & i
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
Exit Sub
Line1: i = i + 1
Resume Line2
ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub
- Now you have to run this module and you can do this by either pressing the run button or by pressing F5:
- You will be taken to an open document screen and there you should select the document that you cannot open.
- After this, the module will run, don’t worry if your mouse goes a little fickery, this is just the computer working hard for you. It may take a little time so don’t be concerned about it.
- When it is finished running you will get a pop up screen with the password of the document:
- You will now have the document open (albeit in read only mode) and you can access it and edit as per the instructions above in how to edit a read only document.
Another Method to Unlock your Document
There is a further method that you can use to unlock your word document and that is by using PassFab. This is a cute little program that you can use to find your password. Unfortunately, it’s not free and I can’t honestly say that it will work for all cases. However, feel free to check it out. (https://www.passfab.com/)
In Summary
I’ve gone through a variety of separate ways to unlock your Microsoft word document, whether it be read only or whether you can’t open it at all. It’s important to remember that there is almost always a solution to your office problem and that’s what I’m here for. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Good luck!