How to Password Protect a Word Document in Windows 10

1. 1

   Open your Microsoft Word document. Double-click the Word document that you want to protect with a password. The document will open in Microsoft Word.

   • If you haven't yet created the document: open Microsoft Word, click Blank document, and create your document before continuing.

2. 2

   Click File . It's a tab in the upper-left corner of the Word window. Doing so will open the File menu.

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3. 3

   Click the Info tab. You'll find this at the top of the column of options that's on the far-left side of the window.

   • If nothing happens when you click Info, you're already on the Info tab.

4. 4

   Click Protect Document . It's a lock icon below the document's name near the top of the page. A drop-down menu will appear.

5. 5

   Click Encrypt with Password . This option is near the top of the drop-down menu. Clicking it prompts a window to open.

6. 6

   Enter a password. Type the password that you want to use into the "Password" text field in the middle of the window.

7. 7

   Click OK . It's at the bottom of the pop-up window.

8. 8

   Re-enter the password, then click OK . This will confirm your password choice. Once you close the document, no one will be able to re-open it without typing in the password.

   • You can still delete the document without opening it or entering the password.

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1. 1

   Open your Microsoft Word document. Double-click the Word document that you want to protect with a password. The document will open in Microsoft Word.

   • If you haven't yet created the document, open Microsoft Word and create your document before continuing.

2. 2

   Click Review . This tab is at the top of the Microsoft Word window. Clicking Review prompts a toolbar to appear below the row of tabs at the top of the window.^[1]

3. 3

   Click Protect Document . It's a lock-shaped icon on the far-right side of the toolbar. A pop-up window will appear.

4. 4

   Enter a password. Type a password into the "Password" field at the top of the window. This will prevent people from being able to open the document without first entering the password.

   • If you want to prevent people from modifying the document, type a password into the bottom text field on this window.

5. 5

   Click OK . It's at the bottom of the pop-up window.

6. 6

   Re-enter your password(s), then click OK . This will confirm your password choice. Once you close the document, no one will be able to re-open it without typing in the password.

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Add New Question

• Question

  How do I password protect a Word 2016 document?

  

  Open the Word document, click on File then Info then Protect Document then Encrypt with Password, and then you enter the password to the text box to set a password on it.

• Question

  Instead of a password, could I set up a security question for a Word document?

  

  No. Microsoft Office has no functionality like this.

• Question

  How does the recipient get the password to read an encrypted document?

  

  You can send the password to the recipient directly via email, text, etc.

• Question

  Can I password-protect a single document in Word (for Mac) so that it can't be opened/viewed? Or if not a document, then a folder?

  

  Refer to the "How to lock a folder with batch file" section. With that you can lock any folder or file and unlock them anytime.

• Question

  How do I unlock my protected document if I forgot the password?

  

  You need to use special password recovery software or use online password recovery services. Online services are preferred, because the latest versions of MS Word have a strong encryption. The password search speed just a few hundred passwords per second. Online services have a powerful GPU farm and can search password at 100x - 1000x faster than a user's notebook, and the success rate is about 60-70%.

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• If you choose to add a password for both opening and modifying a document on Mac, make sure that you use a different password for each option.

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• If you forget your password, you won't be able to recover the document.

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Open the document in Word.
2. Go to File > Info.
3. Click Protect Document.
4. Click Encrypt with Password.
5. Enter a password and click OK.

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How to Password Protect a Word Document in Windows 10

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Password-Protect-a-Microsoft-Word-Document

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