how to edit a word document that is protected

So, what about Word’s in-built editing protection? Is that effective at preventing sharing? Restrict editing in Word: is it effective?Īs you would expect, Word’s restrict editing feature has the same issue as any other password protection: sharing and cracking. But even then, due to the human nature present in password choice, it is of limited effectiveness. Ultimately, then, password encryption only protects documents from being intercepted and when they are sitting on the recipient’s PC, unopened. If there are no additional editing or copy protection controls, a user with the password can just copy the content to another file or into an email or text chat and share the file that way. The same applies to the contents of the document itself. This could be intentional, in the case of an internal leak, or unintentionally, through social engineering, the storage of the password in an insecure location, etc. Any legitimate user that you give the document to, along with the password, can share both of those things with an unauthorized party. The bigger issue, however, is not that passwords are crackable, but that they are shareable. And make no mistake – after decades of passwords being used for everything from social media to bank accounts, tools have become very effective at cracking them. This fact applies to Word documents just as well as it does to other Office docs, PDFs, password-based folder encryption, etc. Instead of requiring a long, complex, and randomly generated encryption key, all an attacker needs is a human-created, often short and simple, encryption password.

The issue shared by all password-based encryption mechanisms is that they take a strong encryption algorithm (such as AES) and make it far less secure. The problem with password-based encryption This does not use encryption and is instead enforced by the software, which disables the ability to type, delete characters, and modify formatting.

Microsoft Word has another, lesser-used password protection that controls whether or not users can edit. Entering the password allows a user to decrypt the document and therefore view and edit it. While the document remains encrypted, it cannot be read – presenting itself as a jumble of numbers and letters to anybody who does not hold the decryption key. Microsoft Word uses simple yet effective encryption for its document protection. Given the sensitive nature of some of these documents, it’s natural that businesses want to secure them.

It’s used for anything from note-taking to documentation, contracts, reports, and legal documents. How does Microsoft Word password protection work?ĭespite heavy competition from the likes of Google Docs, Microsoft Word has remained the text editor of choice for many businesses.

How to edit a word document that is protected