If you are a meticulous user, we are sure that Microsoft Word is still your go-to tool when it comes to creating documents and reports, whether they are simpler or complex. Microsoft's word processor has become a fundamental tool for any self-respecting user. No matter if it is for professional, academic or personal use, the popular Word has a democratic vocation, so it is capable of adapting to all uses. Sometimes, however, we need to go a little further. Do you want to password protect your Microsoft Word document ? You know how to do it? We will tell you about it in a few simple steps.
Saving a document under a password will be great if you only want it to be seen by your collaborators, especially if the information it includes is private or confidential. Luckily, encrypting a Word document with a password is pretty straightforward. Instructions to do it with Microsoft Word 10 , here:
1. Open the Word document you want to protect. If you already have it open, let's go to the next step.
2. Click on the File menu (it is the first option, in the upper left part of the program) and click on the Information tab .
3. Within this space, you will find several options. You have to click on the first one, which is the one that refers to Permissions . A menu will open through which you can configure different options , such as restricting editing or restricting access to certain people. The one we are interested in is Encrypt with password .
4. You will then have to enter the password in question. You should keep in mind that it is case sensitive and that if you lose it, it will be unrecoverable. We recommend that you write it down and keep it in a safe place, otherwise you could lose all the content of the document.
5. Before exiting, save the changes to the document. When you or anyone else want to access again, they will be asked to enter the configured password . You just have to type it and hit the OK button . Your document will have been encrypted. That easy.
But be careful, because the new versions of Microsoft Word offer the possibility of protecting documents in a much more complex way than before. For example, and as we have indicated at the beginning, there is the option to protect the document so that certain people do not read it . It would be something like a permission system.
You also have to access the File> Information> Permissions> Protect document section . On the one hand, you can choose the Restrict formatting and editing option , with which you can prevent users who access the document from making changes. If it is not a collaborative document, this option is highly recommended. If you decide to restrict the document for certain users , things get a bit more complicated, because the system will ask you to register with Information Rights Management , which although it is a free service, requires a Windows Live ID account. Without a doubt, it seems much easier for us to share information through Google Docsand do so by distributing personal invitations. You will save yourself more than one headache and speed up the process.