Password Protection Loophole

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated September 10, 2016)

Most Word users know that you can password protect a Word document. A good portion of those users know that password protection is not the most secure way to protect your document. One example of this is the following scenario:

  • Make sure you have Word set to create backup copies.
  • Create a normal Word document and save it a few times. (You now have the document and a backup file.)
  • Choose Save As and save the document using the same name, but with a password.

At this point you have a document that is protected, but the backup file is not protected. Note that this sort of makes sense, since the current file you save is your document as it currently exists (protected) and the backup file is the last version of your document (which was unprotected).

The only way around this problem is to either turn the backup files off, delete the unprotected backup file, or save your file twice. (The second save will wipe out the unprotected backup file and save the protected one in its place.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1373) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, and 2002.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He  is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Hiding and Displaying Hidden Text

You can easily hide text by simply changing the attributes associated with the text. Once that is done, you can turn the ...

Discover More

Waiting for Update Completion

If you use Excel to grab data from an external source, you may notice that the macro doing the data grabbing doesn't always ...

Discover More

Compiling Misspelled Words from Documents

Word keeps track of the words that may be misspelled in a document. If you are working with a lot of documents, you may want ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Setting a Default Document Format

Word allows you to save your documents in a variety of different formats. You can specify the format when you actually save, ...

Discover More

Inserting a File

Need to combine several files into a single document? You can do it by inserting one file into another, as outlined in this ...

Discover More

Cannot Open Multiple Word Documents

What are you to do if you try to open a document and Word automatically closes your previous document? Word is not supposed ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 8Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three more than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.