The best feature in Microsoft Office Word is the Password Protection feature. This feature is specifically helpful to people who make and share confidential documents.
Password Protection lets you guard the document or protect a few aspects of your document. However, this feature can get you in trouble if you forget the password. You won’t be able to open the document or make any amendments.
You are wrong if you think you will have to create a new document in case you forget the password. There are multiple ways to solve this issue. Most of the methods are easy, and they recover the passwords in a concise time.
Apart from how to unlock Password Protected Word Document, we will also look at different ways to remove the restrictions from the Microsoft Word document.
You might have encountered the ‘Read-Only’ mode after opening a Word document. This mode lets you view the document but doesn’t allow you to make any amendments. Many of us wonder how to remove this mode; therefore, we have found solutions to your problem.
This article will teach us about different kinds of Word Protection and ways to unlock Password Protected Word documents. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Part 1: How Many Kinds of Microsoft Word Protection Are There?
Before discussing how to unlock a Microsoft Word Document, it is essential to understand the different kinds of Word Protection.
If you know about Word Protection, it will be easier to identify and restore the password. This will make your task easier to access the Word documents. Here is the best Excel password breaker for your reference.
There are two kinds of MS Word protection. We have given a detailed analysis below; therefore, don’t skip this part.
Full Document Protection
If you add a password to the document after saving it with the help of the ‘Protect Document’ button in the ‘File Menu,’ it means the entire document has been locked. Full protection is a feature in which you can’t view the Word document or make changes.
If you wish to unlock the protected document, read part 2 of the article.
Segment Document Protection
This feature is helpful if you wish to make the document’ Read-Only.’ You can’t edit in Read-Only mode in MS Word. This is the best protection for people who wish others to view and read the document but don’t want them to make changes to the document.
If the document is in Read-Only mode, you can just view and read it but won’t be able to make even a slight change. We will learn about unlocking the documents in Part 3 of this article.
Part 2: How to Unlock Password-Protected Word Document?
If you have a password-protected document and do not remember the password, you require an advanced method to unlock the document and restore the password.
An excellent tool to unlock password-protected Word documents is PassFab for Word. PassFab utilizes high technology to unlock the document and restore the password irrespective of the complexity of the password.
1. Restore Password to View and Modify the Document
Recovers the password to access the document and eliminates restrictions on ‘Read-Only’ mode in the Word document.
2. Quick Recovery Speed
The speed of recovering passwords is 10x faster compared to other tools. It is because of the implementation of GPU and multiple-core processing.
3. 100% Results
The protection and password are removed from the Word document within two seconds at a success rate of 100%. Along with removing the password, there is no data loss from your document.
Download and launch the program ‘PassFab for Word’ to erase protection from any MS Word document. This program is recommended by tech YouTubers, who have around 300,000 subscribers.
4. 3-Step Unlock
Any password type can be unlocked within three steps. The steps for unlocking a Microsoft Word document are listed as follows.
Steps to Use PassFab for Word
Step 1: Open the program on your PC. Choose ‘Remove Word Open Password’ to restore the passwords for obtaining access to the document.
Step 2: Tap the ‘Add’ button to browse the password-protected document and upload that file to PassFab for Word.
As soon as the document opens, you will notice three attack modes. Each attack mode is created to restore passwords in different conditions.
Let’s know about the Three attack modes in detail.
Dictionary Attack
Dictionary attack mode provides a dictionary library to find and restore combinations of passwords.
Brute Force Attack
This is the best way to solve the issue if a person has no clue about the password. In this particular case, the program analyzes every password combination to find the password. However, this mode takes time to identify the correct password compared to other modes.
Brute Force with Mask Attack
This mode is for those people who remember some things about their passwords. It can be the password length or special characters. When you provide these details, the program will display the possible password combination for the Word document.
Step 3: Now that you know all the modes and their specifications, choose a mode according to your situation and select the ‘Start’ option.
The recovery process will take some time, depending on the attack mode. After completing the process, you will notice a password on your screen.
Use that password to open your MS Word document.
Also read: How to double space in Microsoft Word?
Part 3: Can I Edit Protected Documents Without a Password on Microsoft Word?
One common and well-known form of protection is the ‘Read-Only Mode,’ known as Segment Document Protection.
This feature is useful in restricting unnecessary amendments in the document. However, this mode causes trouble in editing the document.
There are possibilities when a person accidentally puts a document in read-only mode. If you have faced a similar situation, you might want to know how to get rid of the edit restriction mode. The following two methods are the best ways to remove the Read-only mode.
1. Renaming the Name of the File
Steps for This Method
Step 1: Open the document in ‘Read-Only’ mode and click on ‘Save as’ in the File menu to save the particular document with a new name in a different location.
Step 2: The above step should remove the mode and make the document available for editing. However, if this doesn’t work for you, try the below steps.
Step 3: Head to where you save your documents and rename the document’s extension from .docx or .doc to .zip. Select ‘Yes’ upon asking for confirmation of this change
Step 4: With the help of Windows Explorer, launch the Zip file on the PC
Step 5: Select the Word folder and look for ‘settings.xml.’ Delete that file and change the file’s extension back to .docx or .doc.
All these steps should probably help you get rid of the ‘Read-Only’ mode. After eliminating this mode, you can make changes to your document easily.
2. PassFab for Word
This tool helps unlock password-protected Word documents and remove restrictions from the MS Word document. PassFab for Word is very easy to use and gives 100% results.
It is the most suitable choice to solve the issue of removing restrictions. In the following steps, we will guide you to get rid of the restrictions from the MS Word document.
Step 1: Open PassFab for Word and select the ‘Remove Word Restrict Editing’ option. Add the restricted MS Word document to this program using the ‘Please Import the Word File’ option.
Step 2: After adding the restricted document, select ‘Remove.’ As soon as you click on this option, every restriction will be removed within a few seconds.
Removing protection from MS Word documents can be a very lengthy procedure if you don’t have the correct tool.
With the help of ‘PassFab for Word,’ you can quickly solve the issue regarding how to unlock a Microsoft Word document or a password-protected Word Document.
PassFab for Word is also useful in recovering password-protected Word documents. This program has received good reviews from various customers. It is time for you to try PassFab for Word and get to know the program’s uniqueness.
Besides, if you wonder how to fix Microsoft Word not responding, you should check out this guide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Can I unlock a password-protected Word document without the password?
- Unlocking a password-protected Word document without the password can be challenging. However, by employing various methods such as online password recovery tools or third-party software, you can increase your chances of accessing the document.
- Is it legal to unlock someone else’s password-protected Word document?
- Unlocking someone else’s password-protected Word document without proper authorization is generally considered illegal and unethical. It’s crucial to respect privacy and obtain permission before attempting to unlock someone else’s document.
- Are there any free methods to unlock password-protected Word documents?
- While some online password recovery tools offer free trials or limited functionality, comprehensive and reliable methods often require paid software or professional services. Free methods may have limitations or lower success rates.
- Will unlocking a password-protected Word document remove the password permanently?
- Unlocking a password-protected Word document does not remove the password permanently. It grants temporary access to the content within the document but doesn’t alter the original file or remove the password.
- Can I use the same method to unlock password-protected documents in other file formats?
- The methods discussed in this article are specifically aimed at unlocking password-protected Word documents. Other file formats may have different encryption methods or protection mechanisms, requiring separate approaches to unlock them.
Conclusion
So, we hope you are clear about recovering passwords and removing the restrictions from MS Word documents.
If you have any further doubts or queries, feel free to tell us in the comment section. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
