How to: Password Protect Excel and Word Documents Allowing Read-Only Access to Microsoft Office

When Microsoft moved to the new version of the Office suite (2010), they changed the entire structure of the program. Almost everything is still there, you just have to figure out how to find it. One of the features we used a lot with the old version of Excel and Word was the ability to password protect a spreadsheet or document from editing, while still allowing read-only access to the file so so that the rest of the staff could get the information they needed. , but don't accidentally modify the file.

In the old version it was quite simple, the setting was under passwords and permissions, but in Excel and Word 2010 the passwords and permissions section somehow lost Another is the simple, but effective, ability to have the file have a pop-up window that asks for a password for editing or a simple click of a button for read-only.

After much frustration and digging through the help forums, I found where this feature had been moved in the new version:

Go to FILE
Go to SAVE AS
Go to the /"Tools/" button at the bottom of the Save button
Choose General Options from the drop-down menu
Fill in the /"Password to change/" (passwords are case sensitive)
Confirm the password
Save the document

The document should now prompt for a password or click a single read-only button when opening it.

If you need to remove the password, simply go back into the options using the same series of commands you used to set it, then clear the password from the field and save it. The document will now be open for editing by anyone.

This process does not encrypt the file, you can use the password and permissions menus for this if you need ultra security. This process in the video is simply to ensure that anyone can read the file, but only people with the password can modify the file, thus protecting the public file from accidental modification.

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