How to stop Microsoft Word from opening file in readonly mode

When I open a file from a network folder, Word always opens it in readonly mode. How to stop Office from doing this. I want it to just open it as normal and I don't need office to do any security procedures. Any idea how I can get this resolved?

2,719 2 2 gold badges 28 28 silver badges 36 36 bronze badges asked Oct 31, 2013 at 6:39 179 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 7 7 bronze badges

15 Answers 15

  1. Run the Office 2010 application with the problem. Notice that this procedure has to be done individually with each of the applications in MS Office suite (great!).
  2. Click on the Office button on the upper left-hand corner and select “Options”
  3. In the “Options” dialogue box, select “Trust Center” (on the left)
  4. Click on “Trust Center Settings” (on the right)
  5. Select “Protected View”
  6. Disable any of all the protected view options by unticking the check boxes.
  7. Click OK when done.

P.S. Do you have write permissions?

answered Oct 31, 2013 at 8:17 900 1 1 gold badge 6 6 silver badges 15 15 bronze badges i've done this but it still opens in readonly mode Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 8:20

Just noting that the above is 100% correct, but Lynne Okazaki's tip to disable "open e-mail attachments" under General options screen was also needed to solve my specific issue -- opening files from email when Word was closed prior to opening the emailed file.

Commented Jul 6, 2016 at 13:49

Go into Word Options there's a check box under Start up options: Open e-mail attachments and other uneditable files in reading view. Uncheck the box and click OK. This should remove the readonly.

answered Feb 8, 2016 at 20:49 Lynne Okazaki Lynne Okazaki 61 1 1 silver badge 1 1 bronze badge

Try turning off the Preview Pane and Details Pane in the File Open dialog box from within the Office application. If you are opening the files directly from Windows Explorer, try turning off the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer as well.

There seems to be an issue with the Preview Pane issuing a temporary lock on the file in order to preview its contents. If the file is opened while this lock is in place, it will open in read-only mode. The problem is worse with larger files over slower network connections.

For more information, and other possible solutions/workarounds, visit The Definitive 'Locked File' Post.

answered May 6, 2015 at 20:53 455 1 1 gold badge 7 7 silver badges 19 19 bronze badges

I just went to file properties, and applied Read Only, and after that removed again (click apply to take effect). After that, the file started to open correctly.