Edit Password Protected Word Documents

Edit Password Protected Word Documents

Dave

• 1. Open the password protected document in Word.

  2. Click on File | Save As.

  3. From the Save As drop down list, select Word XML Document (*.xml).

  4. Click Save.

  5. Close Word.

  6. Right-click on the saved.XML file. It should be in the same folder as your original document.

  7. From the contextual menu that opens, select Open with and then select a text editing program to open your

  8. file (i.e., WordPad, NotePad, etc.). Do NOT select Microsoft Word.

  9. Click CTRL + F to open the Find dialog box.

  10. In the Find what field, key in enforcement.

you will find one instance: either w:enforcement=”1″, or w:enforcement=”on”.

Enforcement

• 1. Replace the “1” with a zero “0”, or replace “on” with “off” to disable enforcement. This will unlock your document.

  2. Save the .XML document with your text editor and close the editing software.

  3. Right-click on the saved .XML file and click on Open with and select Microsoft Word.

  4. As soon as you have opened your document, click File | Save As and select Word document (*.docx) from

  5. the Save as Type drop-down.

  6. Change the name of your document if you would like to preserve the original password-protected document and make this a new document, or use the same name to replace your original document.

  7. Click Save.