Password Protection Loophole

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 29, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, and 2002

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Copying Worksheet Code Automatically

When creating a workbook to be used by others, you may want any worksheets they add to the workbook to contain some ...

Discover More

Independent Radio Buttons

Radio buttons are great for some data collection purposes. They may not be that great for some purposes, however, for the ...

Discover More

Printing a Week of Planner Sheets

If you want to print multiple copies of a worksheet using a different footer for each copy, the easiest way is to rely on ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Saving All Open Documents

Got a lot of open documents you are working with? You can save them all at one time by just holding down the Shift key ...

Discover More

Files Open in Word 2003, but not Word 2000

If you have some documents that open in Word 2003, but not in Word 2000, it may mean that you are running into some ...

Discover More

Files Opening Slowly If Many Files Exist

Managing large numbers of documents in Word can lead to some interesting challenges. One potential challenge is that your ...

Discover More

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

View most recent newsletter.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. 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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 7 - 7?

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.