Try Password Combinations Yourself. If you are the one who set the password on the document. For MS Word 2010 and above: Step 1: Launch MS Word document. Step 2: Navigate to the “File” menu. Step 3: Click “Protect Document.”. Step 4: Click “Encrypt with Password” from the dropdown. Step 5: Enter the password and hit OK to unlock the Word document. Here, you can now input the password to unlock the MS Word document to view, copy, modify, or delete it. Microsoft Editor goes beyond checking spelling and grammar so you can write with confidence. Get intelligent suggestions in the Editor Overview pane in Word and let Editor assist you across documents, email, and on the web. Open the Word document with the password. Open the File tab, then choose Info. Then click on the “Protect Document” and then on the “Encrypt with Password”. Remove the password from the text box and save the file. PassFab for Word. PassFab for Word is the first Word password remover on this list.
Instructions on how to create electronic signature in Word
These detailed instructions demonstrate how to sign a Word document online. Our free version of DigiSigner online signature software allows you to sign Word documents online (plus PDF, IMG, TXT, XLS) with ease and, even better, it's 100% free with no registration required!
1. Upload a file
Start off by simply clicking the 'choose file' link to upload a Word, PDF, TXT, IMG, TXT or XLS document that you want to sign off or just drop your file into the blue box, as shown in the image below:
In just a few seconds your Word document will be fully available once the upload is completed.
2. Apply your edits
Word online, free
Once you're in, you can select the type of edits you want to apply to your document. This tool is fully equipped with everything you need, not only to create an electronic signature but also to fill out your forms online by adding text, selecting checkboxes, inserting the current date, or even initialing where necessary.
3. Create a free electronic signature
Hover the mouse over the areas where you want to apply your signature and click on the document.
Feel free to sign Word document in whatever way you like. This signature maker tool offers three different options to create electronic signatures:
A) Draw an e-signature using a mouse or touchpad.
B) Type your name.
Word Download
C) Scan an image of your signature and upload it to the document.
4. Fill out Word document
As we mentioned earlier, you can also add check marks, dates, text, or initials to any page of your document. Simply select the type of function you want to use, select the area, and type in the information.
5. Download your document for free!
When ready, click DONE to proceed. Our free tool will create a file that can be downloaded completely for free without any registration! Simply click DOWNLOAD DOCUMENT and save the file on your computer.
'How to unlock Word document and how do I get rid of the password protection?'
Do you want to unlock a read-only Word document for editing? Or unlock an encrypted word .doc file? Actually, you can solve both by using the methods in this post!
Besides, you can unlock Microsoft Word document with or without password. Now let's check!
Part 1. Unlock Word Document with Password
Unlocking Word files on PC/Mac should be super easy if you remember the password. Here's how to remove the password when 'you can only read but can't modify the Word doc', 'you need password to open the Word document', or 'selected fields are locked'.
Method 1. Unlock Word Document for Editing
Here are the steps of how to unlock a word document that is locked for editing (Read only) and how to enable editing in word.
1. Open the locked Word doc, click 'Review' and select 'Restrict Editing' (in the Protect group).
2. Click 'Stop Protection' and then enter the password in the pop-up window.
Tada! Now you can access and change any parts of the file after you. And this works for unrestricting a word document in Office 2010 - 2019.
Tips: For Office 2007, go Review (or Developer) > Protect Document > Restrict Formatting and Editing > Stop Protection.
Microsoft Word Document Login
Method 2. Decrypt a Word Doc (Open Password)
Would you like to remove password from a Word document so that you won't need to enter the password to unlock a word doc every time you open it? Check it out!
MS Word 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019:
1. Open a password protected word doc and enter the password.
2. Click 'File' and select 'Info'.
3. Click on 'Protect Document' and select 'Encrypt with Password'.
4. When it prompts you, empty the password box and click 'OK'.
MS Word 2007:
1. Open the encrypted Word document and click the MS office button, then locate 'Save As' and select Word Document.
2. In the pop-up window, click 'Tool' and then 'General Options'.
3. Clear the password in the box and hit OK. Voila! Now you can close the Office and re-open it once again to check.
Method 3. Unlocking Fields in MS Word File
At times you may lock a field to ensure that it won't get updated. Just select the field and press Ctrl+F11. (Tip: to update the field, you can press Shift+F9)
When you need to unlock selection in Microsoft word, just select the field and press 'Ctrl + Shift + F11'.
Did you fix 'you can't make this change because the selection is locked'? Very simple, isn't it? But note this method only works if you're unlocking a document in Word 2007 and later versions. For extra help, visit the official site Support Microsoft.
Part 2. Unlock Word Document without Password
It's for sure that there are workarounds that can unlock an MS word document without password. Amazing! It's not a big deal whether you forgot the Word password of 'modify protected' or 'encrypted'.
Method 4. Unlock Editing Restricted Word without Password
Select this method if the Word document is readable and cannot be altered - your MS Word document is locked by restricting modifications (as read-only), not allowing you to edit password-protected doc or make any changes.
Let's get this tricky solution - create a new one document and copy and paste the content! This is so much convenient since you don't even need to bother unlocking Microsoft Word document.
1. Open the Word doc, press 'Ctrl + A' keys and then copy all the contents.
2. Click File and create a new MS office doc. Now press 'Ctrl + V' to paste.
3. Save the file on computer.
That's it! After that, you can write and modify the doc.
Method 5. Unlock Encrypted Word without Password
This is for opening passwords, that is, to solve the problem of not being able to access Word files. In contrast, this method is more complicated, and you can unlock a locked Word document file with detailed steps.
Free Microsoft Word
Notepad is a widely used way to unlock a locked Word document file without password. And it's nice and free of charge. The only problem is, you may find this method is much complicated that you expected.
Step 1. Save the document as an XML file
1. First, click on 'File' and then find 'Save As'.
2. Navigate to 'Save as type' and Select 'Word XML Document (*.xml)' in the drop-down list. Then click the 'Save' button and close MS Word.
Step 2. Open it with a TXT Editor and Type
1. Right-click on the saved XML file, select 'Open with', and then choose 'Notepad', 'Word Pad', or Emacs, etc.
2. In Notepad, press 'Ctrl + F' keys to search for enforcement.
3. Find w:enforcement = '1' and change it to w:enforcement = '0'
4. Find w:enforcement = 'on' and change it to w:enforcement = 'off'
5. Once you finish, click Save and then close it.
Step 3. Save the document as Word Doc again
1. Right-click on the .xml file and open it with 'Microsoft Word'
2. Click 'File' and 'Save As', then go to Save as type and select 'Word Document (*.docx)'. Next, click 'Save'.
Tip: Rename the file before saving if you want to keep the original password-protected Word doc.
Great! I'm convinced that this can help you unprotect a word doc without password.
Method 6. Ultimate Way to Unlock Word Doc without Password
This is the last straw for doc unlocks. Try to use software to unlock a password-protected Word document when you forgot password. With Password Genius, you can recover Word password with a few clicks. Let's get it!
Step 1. Download and install the word document unlocker on computer. Launch it and click 'Recover Passwords for Files and Archives' in the interface.
Step 2. Hit 'Word Password Recovery'. Then click the folder icon and load your encrypted word document.
Step 3. After that, set the attack type and options, then click 'Start'.
Step 4. It takes a few minutes to figure out the password. Once finished, you can click 'Copy' and use it to unlock a document in word.
As for the specific settings of attack types, see the following information.
Brute-force: Select the appropriate options under 'Length' and 'Range' respectively. (This mode is only available to users who still remember the length and range of Word password.)
Mask: Enter the known characters and '?' replacing unknown characters. (If you remember the length and some characters of passwords, this option is the best one.)
Dictionary: Click 'Select Dictionary' to import the password dictionary (Just use the default dictionary or create a TXT document that contains all the possible passwords.)
Smart: You don't need to set anything but only click Start. It's super easy. The only issue is, it'll take much longer than other attacks.
Additionally, it's an integrated tool which has multiple uses, including crack password of Excel, WinRAR, Word, PPT, ZIP, PDF, etc. What's more, its free trial version can crack passwords within 3 characters for free. It's not completely freeware, though.
Another popular alternative tool is PassFab for Word. It is designed specifically to unlock word document, and also provides three attack modes: Dictionary Attack, Brute-force with Mask Attack, and Brute-force Attack. It is worth mentioning that its decryption speed is as high as 40X, you do not need to wait too long.
Tip: How to Lock a Microsoft Word Document
Also, you may want to know how to lock Word documents. Thus, I add the steps in this post.
Lock Word Document with Open Password
Open the document, click 'File' > 'Info' > 'Protect Document' > 'Encrypt with Password', and then enter a password and click 'OK' to confirm.
How to Restrict Editing in Word with Password
Open the word file and click 'Review' > 'Restrict Editing' > 'Allow only this type of editing in the document' > 'No changes (Read only)'
If you want, you can mark some parts and make them to be unrestricted: Select part of the document and click Everyone (under Exceptions).
Lastly, click 'Yes, Start Enforcing Protection', enter a password and confirm it.
Word Document Login
Later, you'll see 'this modification is not allowed because the selection is locked' or 'this document has certain edit capabilities that have been locked'.
The Bottom Line
This article lists 6 effective ways to hopefully can unlock Word document file with or without password. No matter the encrypted password or restricted editing password, you can absolutely find a useful answer to troubleshoot locked word documents.
How do you unlock a word document? If you have any better ways, share with us with a comment or email, thank you very much!