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How to Restrict Editing in Microsoft Word

By Erin Wright Leave a Comment

Metal lock on keyboard with "How to Restrict Editing in Microsoft Word" Text Overlay

Microsoft Word lets us block all comments and Track Changes by saving files as Read Only. However, have you ever wanted to block just some comments or Track Changes instead of all of them? Today’s tutorial explains how to restrict editing in Microsoft Word.

Specifically, we will turn on editing restrictions and then (1) limit edits to comments only, (2) prevent users from making untracked changes, (3) allow users to fill in forms without making additional changes, and (4) mark the entire document as Read Only for specific users.

The final section shows how to turn off editing restrictions.

Reader Alert: This tutorial is for general knowledge only. Microsoft Word’s basic protection features are not “hacker proof” and should not be relied upon to protect sensitive or classified documents.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019. The steps are the same for Word 2016 and similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.

How to Turn On Editing Restrictions

  1. Select the File tab in the ribbon.
File tab in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 1. File tab
  1. Select the Info tab in the Backstage view.
Info tab in the Backstage view of Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 2. Info tab
  1. Select the Protect Document button.
Protect Document button in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 3. Protect Document button
  1. Select Restrict Editing in the drop-down menu.
Restrict Editing in Word 365/Word 2019 Backstage view
Figure 4. Restrict Editing menu option
  1. Check Allow only this type of editing in the document in the Restrict Editing task pane.
Restrict Editing task pane "Allow only this type of editing in the document" checkbox in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 5. “Allow only this type of editing in the document” checkbox
  1. Select the menu arrow in the Editing restrictions section.
Editing restrictions menu arrow in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 6. Editing restrictions menu arrow
  1. Choose the type of editing you want to allow from the drop-down menu: Tracked changes, Comments, Filling in forms, or No changes (Read only).
    • The Track changes option prevents other Word users from creating untracked changes in the document. If a change is made, it will be tracked.
    • The Comments option allows other Word users to leave comments but not to use the Track Changes editing tools.
    • The Filling in forms option lets other Word users fill in forms but not to leave comments or use the Track Changes editing tools.
    • The No changes (Read only) option prevents other Word users from changing the document.
Restrict Editing task pane editing restrictions menu
Figure 7. Editing restrictions menu

Optional Step: Exceptions

If you selected Comments or No changes, you can exempt groups of users from the restrictions selected above. Additional users can be exempt by selecting More Users and then following Word’s user-verification process.

The option to exempt users isn’t available if you chose the Track changes or Filling in forms options.

Restrict editing exceptions in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 8. Exceptions options
  1. Select the Yes, Start Enforcing Protection button.
"Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 9. Yes, Start Enforcing Protection button
  1. Enter and then reenter a password in the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box.
Start Enforcing Protection dialog box password text boxes in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 10. Start Enforcing Protection password text boxes
  1. Select the OK button to close the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box.
Start Enforcing Protection OK button in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 11. Start Enforcing Protection OK button

Important Note: Word will allow you to turn on your editing restrictions without a password by selecting OK in the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box. However, without a password, other users can simply turn off your restrictions themselves.

How to Turn Off Editing Restrictions

You can turn off editing restrictions added to your own documents. However, these steps won’t turn off restrictions in password-protected copies of files you have shared with other users.

  1. Select the File tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
  2. Select the Info tab in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
  3. Select the Protect Document button. Note that the text near the button now says, “Certain types of changes are restricted in this document.”
Protect Document button in Word 365/Word 2019 after protections set
Figure 12. Protect Document button with protections set
  1. Select Restrict Editing in the drop-down menu (see figure 4).
  2. Select the Stop Protection button in the Restrict Editing task pane.
Stop Protection button in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 13. Stop Protection button
  1. Enter your password in the text box in the Unprotect Document dialog box.
Password text box in the Unprotect Document dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 14. Unprotect Document password text box
  1. Select the OK button to close the Unprotect Document dialog box.
OK button in the Unprotect Document dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019
Figure 15. Unprotect Document OK button

Further Reading:

How to Restrict Style Changes in Microsoft Word

How to Stop Microsoft Word from Calling You “Author” in Track Changes

How to Restrict Editing in Adobe Acrobat

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Microsoft Word Tagged With: copyediting, proofreading, Track Changes, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 365

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Technical Writer and Editor Erin Wright

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Hello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares step-by-step software tutorials and writing tips for the real world on this blog and YouTube

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