You can help prevent unauthorized users from opening a document or from modifying a document even if they have permission to open it.
Caution
When you create a password for a document, write down the password and keep it in a secure place. If you lose the password, you can't open or gain access to the password-protected document.
Word
doesn't encrypt the data that is hidden in a document. Given sufficient time and knowledge, a user can modify data in any document that he or she has access to. To help prevent modification of data, and to help protect confidential information, limit access to any Word
documents that contain such information by storing documents in locations available only to authorized users.
Do any of the following:
 | Require a password to open a document |
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Open the document that you want to help protect.
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On the Word menu, click Preferences.
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Under Personal Settings, click Security
.
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In the Password to open box, type a password, and then click OK.
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In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again, and then click OK.
-
Click Save
.
 | Tip To remove a password, select all contents in the Password to open box, and then press
DELETE. |
 | Require that others enter a password to modify a document |
You can add a password so that only authorized users can make changes to a document. Users who are not authorized to change a document can still open the document and then save it by using a different file name.
-
Open the document that you want to help protect.
-
On the Word menu, click Preferences.
-
Under Personal Settings, click Security
.
-
In the Password to modify box, type a password, and then click OK.
-
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again, and then click OK.
-
Click Save
.
 | Tip To remove a password, select all contents in the Password to modify box, and then press
DELETE. |
 | Protect a document during review |
As part of preparing a document for review, you can specify that others can change the document by inserting comments only, or by inserting comments and tracked changes with revision marks. For added security, you can assign a password to ensure that users do not remove this type of protection.
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Open the document that you want to help protect.
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On the Review tab, under Protection, click Document.

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Do one of the following:
To | Do this |
---|
Ensure that all changes are tracked so that you can review them. Users cannot accept or reject changes, or turn off change tracking. | Click Tracked changes |
Allow users to make comments | Click Comments |
Restrict changes to forms so that users can fill in the fields without making accidental changes to the form itself | Click Forms |
Prevent users from making changes | Click Read only |
 | Change a document password |
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Open the document that you want to change the password for.
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On the Word menu, click Preferences.
-
Under Personal Settings, click Security
.
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In the Password to open box or Password to modify box, select all contents.
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Type the new password, and then click OK.
-
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again, and then click OK.
-
Click Save
.
 | Tip To remove a password, select all contents in the Password to open box or the Password to modify box, and then press
DELETE. |