Unlocking a form

[Janice914]

I have a word document that is a form that was created with 97-2003. Now we
are working with the new Word version and I don't know how to unlock the
form. Can anyone help?

 

[Jay Freedman]

I have a word document that is a form that was created with 97-2003.
Now we are working with the new Word version and I don't know how to
unlock the form. Can anyone help?

The long way around: On the Review tab of the ribbon, click the Protect
Document button and choose Restrict Formatting and Editing. When the pane
appears on the right, click the Stop Protection button at the bottom (and
supply a password if one is needed).

The short way, after a one-time setup: Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar
and choose Customize. Set the category dropdown to Commands Not In the
Ribbon. Click on the Lock command and click the Add button, then OK. Click
that button on the Quick Access Toolbar once to unlock, and again to lock
the form.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Janice914]

Thank you so much!

The long way around: On the Review tab of the ribbon, click the Protect
Document button and choose Restrict Formatting and Editing. When the pane
appears on the right, click the Stop Protection button at the bottom (and
supply a password if one is needed).

The short way, after a one-time setup: Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar
and choose Customize. Set the category dropdown to Commands Not In the
Ribbon. Click on the Lock command and click the Add button, then OK. Click
that button on the Quick Access Toolbar once to unlock, and again to lock
the form.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Ashby T.]

The long way around: On the Review tab of the ribbon, click the Protect
Document button and choose Restrict Formatting and Editing. When the pane
appears on the right, click the Stop Protection button at the bottom (and
supply a password if one is needed).

What if the default setting is already "Unrestricted Access" (in spite of it
still being a clearly locked form) and clicking prompts me to install a
Windows Rights Management client? I created and locked the form (on this same
machine and this version of Word and Windows) myself a couple of weeks ago.
How do I restore my own access in order to edit?

 

[Jay Freedman]

What if the default setting is already "Unrestricted Access" (in
spite of it still being a clearly locked form) and clicking prompts
me to install a Windows Rights Management client? I created and
locked the form (on this same machine and this version of Word and
Windows) myself a couple of weeks ago. How do I restore my own access
in order to edit?

I'd guess in that case that your document file has been damaged in such a
way that Word "thinks" it has been locked by the Rights Management
software -- which is an entirely different mechanism than Word's forms
protection.

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm for suggestions, but
I doubt you'll be able to recover that document intact.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Again, cell phone unlock codes have nothing to do with unprotecting forms in
Word. Please go away!

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org