Remove Passwords from Microsoft Word 2007

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Microsoft Word 2007 can be useful for personal and business applications. You can create letters, flyers, mailing labels, greeting cards and documents of numerous types quickly and easily. Word 2007 also allows you to create passwords for opening and for editing your documents. There are occasions where you may need to remove those passwords, however, and that can be challenging if you don't know how. See Step 1 below for more information on how to remove passwords from Microsoft Word 2007 without destroying the text of the document in question.

Steps

  1. Launch Microsoft Word 2007.
  2. Attempt to open the document that has password protection.
  3. Enter the password to open the document if prompted.
    • You may need to recreate the file if you have forgotten your password.
  4. Click the Office button in the upper left corner of the window and mouse over the "Prepare" option.
  5. Select "Encrypt document" from the slide-out menu.
    • An encrypted document cannot be opened without supplying the password.
    • A password protection window will pop up with asterisks where the password was entered.
  6. Clear the password field and then click "OK."
    • This will remove the encryption.
  7. Save the document.
    • If you want to keep the original document with password protection, choose "Save As" and enter a new name for your document.
  8. Remove the password required to edit the document.
    • Password protection against editing a document only prevents users from saving the document with the same name and overwriting the original text.
    • Click the "Tools" link from the save window and then select the "Save As" menu, which is at the bottom of the document.
    • Choose "General Options" from the menu.
    • Clear the passwords from all fields here and then click the "OK" button to close the window.
  9. Enter a new file name if you want to preserve the original document with modified password protection and then click the "Save" button.

Tips

  • If you are working with a document that requires a password to modify, you can copy the content into a new document and edit it there. Hold the "Ctrl" key while pressing "A" to select all content in the document. Hold "Ctrl" while pressing "C" to copy the content. Hold "Ctrl" while pressing "V" on a blank document to paste the content.

Warnings

  • There are programs that can get around the passwords on encrypted Microsoft Word 2007 documents, but using them is not advisable. The security risk when using these programs has yet to be determined.

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Sources and Citations