How to Protect a document in Microsoft Word:

If you have an important document in Microsoft word and want to protect it from others, Microsoft Word provides with you a special facility called protect a document. By using this facility you can make a document password protected. Follow the given steps and protect your important document with others. After protecting a document Microsoft Word keep track of changes in a document and then you can track the changes and then accept or reject the changes is your desire.

Step 1: Click Tools menu and then select Protect Document, Protect Document window will be appeared on the screen.

There are three options for which do you want to protect the document, Here I am describing first two Tracked changes and Comments.

1. Tracked Changes: If you protect the document with this option anybody will change or modify this document without unprotect it, all these changes will be recorded by Microsoft Word. If somebody tries to delete the text from such a document, it wouldn’t delete and show the deleted content in strikethrough style (like this). If somebody wants to try to type some new matter it shows in underline text. Like this.

2. Comment: If you choose comment option then document will be fully protected. You can neither type some matter nor delete anything. You can also not modify such a document. You only allow to type comments.

So choose anyone option for which do you want to protect the document and type a desired password in Password text box then click Ok button. A Confirm Password window will be appeared to ask you to retype the password. Retype the password in the password text box and then press Ok button to confirm.

Now your document is protected according to your option.

Once you protect a document, Changes will be made only after doing unprotect it by using following command.

Click Tools – Unprotect Document – Type your password and click OK button.

Your document will be unprotected and any changes you want in the document would be possible now.

If you protect your document by Track Changes option then someone made changes in your protected document such as typed new matter and deleted some matter. When you open such a document you will get your document as shown the picture below

Above picture shows that in protected document someone will type new matter that will be in underlined and deleted matter in strikethrough format. Now you want your original matter again.

You can get back your original content by using Track Changes option. To do so Click Tools menu - Track changes then select Accept or Reject changes option, A dialogue box appeared on the screen as shown below.

Select Original option from the dialogue box and you will get back your original content then click Close button to close the dialogue box.

Note: If you want to find changes that have been made in your document press Find forward or backward button. You can also accept or reject modification one by one by pressing Accept button or Reject button from the Accept or Reject Changes dialogue box.