How to protect Word 2010 document?

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More and more users are now liable to Microsoft Word 2010 as the best word processing software. These Word documents might contain sensitive information like personal data (bank account numbers, passwords, etc.) and information about your business. In either case, you have to protect your Word 2010 document from intruders or some other data disaster situations.  Hence, Microsoft Word has come up with certain security features with its 2010 version. These features can be used to protect the document in different ways. It includes password-protecting the document, making certain parts of the documents read-only, sealing it with a digital signature, and many more.

Here we will discuss some ways that help you to protect your Word 2010 document from unauthorized editing or other data security issues. First Go to File - > click on “Info” and hit the “Protect document” option. You will find many options. To know how to use them and protect your document, just read below:

Mark Final:            

This option will make your document read-only. When you have completed the document and are sure that it doesn’t need any further changes you can make it final. As soon as you mark it as Final all the typing, editing commands, and proofing mark options will be either disabled or turned off, in turn making your document read-only. This helps you to communicate that you are sharing or sending the completed version and moreover prevents the readers from making inadvertent changes to your document.

Protect your Word 2010 with a password

When your Word document is shared on a network or your PC has multiple users and you don’t want to share your document with others then you can make use of this option. This is the second option in the list, just click “Encrypt with Document”; a dialog box appears asking for a Password. In the box provided just enter the password and re-enter it again for confirmation. Now, your Word 2010 document will be protected with your password and thus, encrypting it.

Note: When choosing the password, you will have to be careful, because if it’s lengthy or complicated it becomes difficult for you to remember and Microsoft cannot retrieve lost or forgotten passwords.

Restrict editing

This is the third option in the list, with this you can control what types of changes can be made to the document.  Once Restrict Editing option is selected, you will find three options:

  • Formatting restrictions: On selecting this, you can reduce the formatting options, preserving a look and feel. Also, you can only allow a few selected styles to documents.
  • Editing restrictions: With this option, you can control how the file can be edited or you can completely disable editing.  In addition, there is an Exceptions tab (that is not mandatory)using which you can actually select the users and provide the permissions accordingly.
  • Start enforcement: when you click on this, you will be asked to provide confirmation. For this just click on the “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection” option, and either select password protection or user authentication options. If you select password protection, you will have to enter the password. Then just proceed accordingly.

Not just these, you can also click Restrict permission link situated at the bottom of the list to add or remove editors who’ll have restricted permissions.

Restrict Permission by People

To enable this option you can use a Windows Live ID or a Microsoft Windows account. You can apply for permissions via a template that is used by your organization, or you can add permissions like read, edit, save, etc. to the users by clicking Restrict Access Tab. An Information Rights Management in Office window appears; now, just keep selecting the options as per your need and then register for a Microsoft account.

Add a Digital Signature

One can even protect their Word 2010 document by Adding a visible or invisible digital signature. The Digital signature is used to authenticate digital information such as documents, email messages, and macros with the help of computer cryptography. It can be created by typing a signature or by using an image of a signature to establish integrity, authenticity, and non-repudiation.

Creating PDF of a word document 2010

One can even protect their document by converting or saving them as a PDF format. It is similar to taking a photocopy of it and thus restricting it from being edited.

Hence, the above-explained options are those methods that help you to protect your Word 2010 documents. While accomplishing any of these, especially the last one (converting word to PDF) you might corrupt your important document or Word 2010 doc may become unreadable.

In such cases, you can make use of the Remo Repair Word Software which can easily repair your corrupt Word documents in just a few minutes. Not just Word 2010, it supports all versions like Word 2003, 2010, 2007, etc. In addition, using this tool, corrupt docx file repair can be done in a simple way. To know more, click on the provided link.

About the Author: Molly Owen

Molly is the Lead Technical Specialist with distinguished knowledge and understanding of Mac computers and operating systems. Being a veteran photographer and video recovery specialist, Molly’s expertise in video formats and file repair has helped restore a lot of videos and cherished memories of users. As a technical specialist, she also believes in learning and…