Unprotect MS word Doument.

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by Mr_e

introUnprotect MS word Doument.

This is a how to on how to recover access to a word document that has been protected to disable editing.

In MS word if you go to the tools menu then select 'protect document' you can set the password to protect the document from editing. Useful feature if it s a memo or a form that needs to be passed about and you don't want anyone to make changes to it.

Now what happens if you forget the password and you need to make changes to the document?

For this instructable you will need.

1) A protected word document.
2) Ms Word.
3) Text Editor (like WordPad or Notepad).
4) Hex editor (Like WinHex).

Unprotect MS word Doument.

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step 1Method 1: Copy contents of the document into a new document.

One of the disadvantages of using this method is that you might mess up some of the formatting especially if you don't have all the fonts etc. Also some of the protection options even might prevent copying.

Open the protected document do a Ctrl + A to select everything in the document.

Do a Ctrl + C to copy the selected area

Open a new document

Do a Ctrl + V to paste the selected area

Save the new document.

The new document is ready for you to make changes.

Method 1: Copy contents of the document into a new document.

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17 comments	Add Comment

Aug 23, 2010. 6:11 AMixilon says:

It worked for me, Office 2003 + Notepad++ and HxD. Great work!

Aug 18, 2010. 12:06 PMjuiya says:

Thanks, Jezza Bear! Worked for me

Mar 4, 2009. 12:05 PMriskrail says:

Here is the easiest way I have found to unprotect a word document: save file as a Rich Text File File will appear with file name followed by .rtf Open .rtf and save as a word document click Tools and select Unprotect This should give you the file unprotected.

May 16, 2007. 3:01 AMsquirmster says:

Any idea how I would get this to work with password protected pdfs? I often have to capture contents of these and I can't copy the text from them.

Feb 3, 2009. 8:15 AMScottMcLeod says:

Use Colorsync in OS X. Open document Save as... (new name) TA-DAA! No password. Google if you have any more questions.

Oct 16, 2008. 6:05 PMpixil says:

hey, i tried this but couldn't find the string in the hex editor. so i just went back to the html file, deleted the entire line that referenced the password protection. then i saved the modified html file, opened it in word, and was able to turn off the protection. silly users locking themselves out of their own documents. thanks for the tips though!

Sep 23, 2008. 2:42 AMjchar77 says:

You don't even need hex editor... You save it as a .htm file, find the 8 letter code and replace it with 8 zeros. Nice try though!

Feb 29, 2008. 4:55 AMzaeka_dori says:

10x, Jezza Bear. That's brilliant and very useful.

Jan 14, 2008. 3:20 PMalvincredible says:

omg that could be used to hack a grades sheet or something at school. like my teacher does that and lets us see our grades from the network drive, but they are unchangeable. i promise never to put this info to bad use. :-)

May 17, 2007. 1:38 PMJezza Bear says:

Even simpler way is this: 1) Create a blank new document. 2) Select Insert | File... 3) Browse to the document, then click Insert. You'll have the unprotected form document on your hands. Much simpler and not underhand.....the reason this is done is to protect the document from changes for version control

May 15, 2007. 2:40 PM

lemonie says:

I'm not sure that I get this. How do you open a password protected doccument? The password would prevent you from doing this? If you can open the protected doccument and view it, where is the advantage in de-protecting it? (please explain, I'm tired and must have missed something) L

May 16, 2007. 6:44 AMrislejay says:

There are two levels of password protection in Word. Password needed to open the document and password needed to modify the document.

May 16, 2007. 1:25 PM

lemonie says:

And you can get around the 'modify' password with 'save as'. The actual unprotection of the original is interesting, but I can't see the use(?)

L

May 16, 2007. 12:58 PMtuxracer66 says:

You don't need it with OpenOffice - it ignores the protection by word (in most cases)

May 16, 2007. 8:08 AMrimar2000 says:

The step 5 doesn't work in MS Word 97.

May 16, 2007. 6:55 AMrislejay says:

Tried this in Word XP and 2003 without any luck. Maybe an update patched this hole or it never existed in these versions.

May 15, 2007. 3:56 PMTaotaoba says:

I just tried it in Word 2000. The protected document cannot prevent you from openning and even editing, but the later changes will be prevented or marked as red (Depends on what you choose to protect). Thanks for sharing.

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