Welcome toWord.Tips.Net
Ask a Word Question
Make a Comment
Learn Access Now
Free Printable Forms
Beauty Tips
Car Tips
Cleaning Tips
College Tips
Cooking Tips
Excel2007 Tips
ExcelTips
Family Tips
Gardening Tips
Health Tips
Home Tips
Legal Tips
Money Tips
Organizing Tips
Pest Tips
Pet Tips
Wedding Tips
Word2007 Tips
WordTips
Collapsing and Expanding Subdocuments
Sometimes you'll want to circulate a file to other people, but you don't want them to change your words. There are several ways you can make your document read-only. The first, and simplest way, is to use the capabilities of your operating system to make the change. Simply create your document, and then (from outside of Word) change the properties of the document to indicate it is read-only.
The other way to accomplish this is from within Word itself, by following these steps:
The only problem with these approaches to protecting your document is that anyone can still load the file and then use the Save As option from the File menu to save their own copy of the document. The only sure way around this is to save the document in some other application format (such as a graphic image or in Adobe Acrobat) that precludes any use of the information except for reading.
There is another option that may also fit the bill. This involves saving your document as a Word form, which can be easily protected. To accomplish this, follow these steps if you are using Word 97 or Word 2000:
If you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003, follow these steps:
Now nobody can change your document without knowing the password.
Tip #158 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 2000 2002 2003
Add a Professional Finishing Touch! Word includes great tools that allow you to add professional-grade finishing touches to your documents. You can add indexes, tables of contents, and other special tables by using the detailed information available in this volume.