UNLOCKING FORMS IN WORD 2007

[Guest]

OK, I give up. I've searched EVERYWHERE including in Help and cannot find
the forms controls. I have a document that was created in Word 2003 that has
form fields that are locked. I need to unlock the form so I can make
changes, but god knows where the command has been hidden.

Can anyone tell me where they've hidden this control?

Thanks.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Either display the Forms toolbar and click the "lock" icon to turn it
off; or click the menu item Tools > Unprotect Document. If a password
was applied to lock the form and you don't have the password, see
http://www.gmayor.com/Remove_Password.htm for help.

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

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jay.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're telling me, I'm guessing you failed
to see that I'm using Word 2007. I don't have a "Tools" menu and can't
figure out how to display the Forms toolbar....that's the problem. If I
still had my Word 2003 I would know how to do it. But since converting to
Office 2007 it's a mystery trying to find anything.

Todd

 

[Jay Freedman]

Yes, it would have helped to mention 2007 specifically. I'm usually a
better mind-reader than that, but I get sloppy on weekends.

In 2007, first go to Office Button > Word Options and check the box
for "Show Developer tab in the Ribbon". Now click the Developer tab,
and you'll find the Protect Document button on it. Click it to open
the same task pane you had in 2003.

For future reference, put this URL in your IE Favorites:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100744321033.aspx
It will let you click any command in a picture of Word 2003 and then
show you where the equivalent is in Word 2007.

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

 

[Guest]

Jay,

Thanks for the reply, although it still doesn't answer the question.
Incidentally, no need to be a mind-reader if you would simply read the
subject line it would tell you that I was using Word 2007. I guess it would
pay to repeat myself next time.

I followed your instructions and added the Developer tab. However, if I go
to the Developer tab and go to "Protect Document" as you instructed, there
isn't anything there to unlock the fields. The only item I see selected when
I go there is "Unrestricted Access". When I go to "Controls", which is where
the padlock would have been located in Word 2003, there isn't a padlock to
unlock the form fields.

Thanks anyway.

 

[Jay Freedman]

You're right, I wasn't looking at the subject line at all. Sorry.

When I take a Word 2003 document that was protected for forms and open
it in Word 2007, then click the Protect Document button, the
Restricted Formatting and Editing task pane opens. The top part says
"This document is protected from unintentional editing. You may only
fill in forms in this region." At the bottom of the pane is a button
that says "Stop Protection". Clicking that button unlocks the form.

If you don't see the Stop Protection button, then it's possible that
(a) the protection you see isn't for forms -- although none of the
other protection modes show the behavior you described -- or (b) the
document is corrupted in some way.

The "padlock" icon doesn't exist in 2007. More exactly, the function
is there but it doesn't appear on the ribbon by default. You can
right-click the Quick Access Toolbar and choose Customize Quick Access
Toolbar, set the category to All Commands, select the Unprotect
Document command, and click the Add button. The icon (which you can't
easily change) is a green circle.

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

 

[Guest]

I too have loaded Office 2007. The platform is XP Pro. Despite following your
suggestiond I still cannot find anyway to unlock the document. I am stumped.

The commands are simply 'greyed out' and do no re-act.

I have loaded the same document into my laptop which runs Office 2003 on
Windows XP and the whole process is quick, logical and simple. It seems the
complet opposite of 2007 which is about as non intuitive as you can get.

I really need to be able to lock and easily unlock docs, and fields within
Word on my main machine but I am at a frsutarted loss to find a way.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Guest]

Paul, I finally figured it out myself.
After you click on the Protect Document Button it displays two options:
1) Formatting Restrictions and 2) Editing Restrictions
Click on the box under Editing restrictions that says "Allow only this type
of editing in the document"
Then it will allow you to click on the box under 3) Start Enforcement
Put in your password twice
Click okay AND Voila!! it allows you to edit the document.

 

[Guest]

Has Anyone figured this one out as of yet??? I'm totally stumped

 

[Graham Mayor]

It is on the developer tab of the ribbon (you need to add this tab if not
already present from Word Options) . Protect document > restrict formatting
and editing > stop protection.
You may find http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm interesting if
you still have access to Word 2003.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

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[Guest]

Yes Yes Yes! Thank You SOOOOOOOO Much! I was getting so frustrated!

 

[Marcy O''''Brien]

I'm having the same problem you had with editing a Word 2003 document that
has form fields that has been converted to Word 2007. Are you able to tell
me how to unlock this document?--
Marcy O''''Brien

 

[Beth Mc]

Click "Protect Document" on the Developer tab. A side panel will open to the
right of your document. At the bottom of the side panel is a button that says
"Stop Protection." Click that button and your document will be unlocked.

 

[PeaceKat]

Beth Mc

I do not see a "Stop Protection" option when I click on "Protect Document."
Any ideas on why that might be?

Thanks,
PeaceKat

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Tell us more about the document.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com