How to Change Something From Read Only

1. ane

   Understand which documents are likely to be protected. Any Microsoft Word document which yous download from the Internet (east.g., an email attachment or a file from a website) volition have read-only protection assigned to it whenever you open up it. You can disable this protection when first opening the certificate.

2. 2

   Open up the Discussion document. Double-click the Word document for which yous desire to remove the read-simply protection.

   • If the Word document is currently open, shut information technology and re-open it.

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3. 3

   Look for a pale yellow imprint. If y'all run across a yellow banner with the phrase "Files from the Internet tin can incorporate viruses" written beyond the top of the Discussion document, your document qualifies to have its read-only condition removed using this method.

   • If you lot don't see this banner even afterward closing and re-opening the Word document, try one of the other methods in this article.

4. four

   Click Enable Editing . This push button should be on the right side of the banner. Doing so volition refresh the Discussion document and remove the read-only protection. Y'all should at present be able to edit the document.

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1. 1

   Open up the Give-and-take certificate. Double-click the Give-and-take document from which y'all desire to remove the protection. It will open in Word.

2. 2

   Click the Review tab. This tab is in the upper-right corner of the Word window. Doing so opens the Review toolbar at the top of the Word window.

3. 3

   Click Restrict Editing . You'll find this option on the far-right side of the Review toolbar. Clicking it prompts a popular-out carte du jour to appear on the right side of the window.

4. 4

   Click Stop Protection . It'southward at the lesser of the pop-out card. You should see a popular-up window announced at this point.

   • If you or another user on your reckoner's account created the protection without a countersign, clicking Cease Protection will automatically remove the protection.

5. 5

   Enter the password when prompted. Type the certificate's password into the "Countersign" text box, then click OK. This will immediately remove the Give-and-take document's read-only lock if the password is correct.

   • If you lot don't know the password, you'll have to copy and paste the file's contents instead.

6. half-dozen

   Save your changes. Press Ctrl+Southward (Windows) or ⌘ Command+S (Mac) to practice so. From at present on, the file won't be read-only protected unless you re-enable editing protection.

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1. 1

   Become to the Word document. Detect the folder in which the Word document is stored.

   • If the file isn't actually on your calculator (eastward.thou., information technology's on a flash bulldoze or a CD), move the file onto your computer before proceeding.

2. ii

   Open up the Word file'due south properties. This will vary depending on your computer's operating system:

   • Windows — Click once the Discussion file, right-click the Word file, and click Properties in the driblet-downwardly menu.
   • Mac — Click the Word file, click the File menu item in the top-left side of your Mac's screen, and click Become Info.

3. 3

   Find the "Permissions" section. On a Windows computer, yous'll find the proper options in the "Attributes" section near the lesser of the Properties window.

   • On a Mac, you'll take to click the Sharing & Permissions heading near the bottom of the window.

4. 4

   Disable the read-only protection. Again, this process will differ depending on whether you lot're using Windows or a Mac:

   • Windows — Uncheck the "Read-only" box virtually the bottom of the window, click Utilize, and click OK.
   • Mac — Click the Read choice to the right of your name, and so click Read & Write in the card which appears.
     • Y'all may showtime have to click the lock in the bottom-left corner of the Get Info window so enter your Mac'south countersign before you tin do this.
   • If this option is greyed out, unchecked, or otherwise non set to "Read-only", you'll accept to try copying and pasting instead.

5. 5

   Try to edit the file. Open the Word document past double-clicking information technology, then try to edit information technology. Keep in listen that you may first take to remove the online read-only lock before doing then.

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1. 1

   Sympathize how this works. If your primary goal is to edit the Word document, you can copy the Discussion document's text and paste information technology into a new Give-and-take document and so save the new document onto your figurer. While doing this won't remove the read-simply protection from the original document, it will create an editable copy.

2. 2

   Open the protected Discussion document. Double-click the Word certificate to do and then.

3. iii

   Click anywhere on the certificate. This will place your mouse cursor on the document's page.

4. four

   Select the whole document. Printing either Ctrl+A (Windows) or ⌘ Command+A (Mac) to practise so. You should see the entire document become highlighted.

5. v

   Copy the selected text. Press either Ctrl+C (Windows) or ⌘ Command+C (Mac). This volition re-create the document's text to your computer'southward clipboard.

6. 6

   Open up a new Word document. Click File in the upper-left side of the Word window, click New on the left side of the window, and click Blank certificate to open a blank Give-and-take document.

   • On a Mac, click the File card particular, then click New Blank Document at the elevation of the drop-downwardly menu.

7. seven

   Paste in the copied text. Printing either Ctrl+Five (Windows) or ⌘ Command+V (Mac) to paste the locked Word document's text into the blank document.

   • This may take a few seconds if the original document was particularly large or contained images.

8. 8

   Save the certificate equally a new file. Press Ctrl+South (Windows) or ⌘ Control+S (Mac), then enter your document's proper noun and click Save. You'll be able to edit the document you just created like usual.

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Add New Question

• Question

  My documents are in Microsoft Office equally PDF files and they are read only. How do I turn read only off?

  

  Save it every bit a new document, delete the old one, and rename the new 1. This should permit you to edit it.

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Video

• Another way to remove the read-just protection from a Microsoft Give-and-take document is by converting the Word document into a PDF with the SmallPDF online converter, downloading the converted PDF, and then converting the PDF back into a Word document with SmallPDF.

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• It'due south much easier to copy the protected document's text and paste it into a new document than it is to attempt to crack Microsoft'southward security.

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Article Summary X

ane. Open the certificate in Word.
2. Click Enable Editing.

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