7 Ways to Unlock Word Document

Word documents can be protected in various ways, such as by setting a password. Alternatively, if the owner of the document does not want anyone to modify the original document, they can choose to restrict editing. This article will show you how you can remove the password from a Word document without knowing the password. We will also demonstrate how you can unlock a Word document for editing so that you can save changes to the original file.

• Situation 1. Unlock Word Document for Opening the File
• Situation 2. Unlock Word Document for Editing

Unlock Word Document for Opening the File

This type of lock is when you cannot open the Word document or view its contents without inputting the password. This is used to protect documents that contain confidential and important data. You should only use these methods if you have permission to view the files.

Method 1 – Recover Password Using an Online Tool (without Password)

One way you can remove passwords from Word is to use a Word password remover which can be accessed online. One tool which you can use is known as LostMyPass. LostMyPass will let you recover the password of a Word document for free if the password is weak. Alternatively, you will have to pay for the recovery of stronger passwords, but you don’t need to pay before it finally recovers your password.

1. Go to the LostMyPass website and choose “MS Office Word” under the “File types” tab. You can also click here directly.
2. Tick the checkbox and then upload your locked Word document.
3. Wait for the file’s password to be removed.

If your password is not weak and cannot be removed by the program straight away, you will be prompted to choose a paid option. This will also take longer to unlock the Word document (up to 24 hours).

Method 2 – Recover Password Using a Third-party Tool (without Password)

The easiest to unlock a Word document for opening without the password is to use the third-party program Passper for Word by iMyFone. This is a password recovery program developed by IT experts which will allow you to unlock your Word document via four different methods.

• Dictionary attacks will attempt the most common passwords and phrases from a large database to recover the password for your Word document.
• A combination attack will attempt passwords based on the length of the password you set. It will combine the letters, numbers, and other characters you select randomly.
• Mask attack will search for the correct password based on the information you provide to the program. The more information you provide, the quicker the unlock will be.
• Brute force attack will attempt combinations of all characters until your password has been found and recovered. This can take a while, especially if you were using a very strong password to protect the Word document.

To use Passper for Word to unlock your Word document, download and install the program on your PC. Then,

1. Run Passper for Word on your computer and select “Recover Passwords” on the home screen.
2. Choose the method of attack that suits you (see information above for details about each attack method).
3. Proceed and wait for the program to recover your password.

The password for the Word document will be recovered and displayed on your screen (which you can copy). You can also use the password to permanently remove the password from the Word document (the steps for this are listed in the next method).

Method 3 – Use MS Word to Remove Password (using a Password)

Once you have recovered the password, you can use Microsoft Word to completely remove the password from the file. The method to do this is different if you are using Word 2007 or older compared to newer versions of Word.

Word 2010 and newer

1. Open the Word document you want to remove the password from.
2. Click “File” and then “Info”.
3. Choose “Protect Document” and then pick the “Encrypt with Password” option.
4. Clear the “Password” field and then choose “OK”.
5. Save the Word document.

Word 2007 and older

1. Open the Word document and choose the office button in the top left corner.
2. Click on “Save As” and browse to the location you want to save the file to.
3. Click on “Tools” and then “General Options…”.
4. Clear the “Password to open” field and then save the file.

This will remove the password from the Word document so anyone with the file will be able to open and view the file.

Unlock Word Document for Editing

Word documents can also be unlocked so that they cannot be edited. The most common circumstance of when this occurs is when you download a Word document. Your computer will not allow you to edit the document unless you confirm that you are willing to make changes. This is so that the Word document does not harm your computer. However, when a Word document has intentionally been locked for editing, it can be unlocked even if you do not know the password.

Method 1 – Save as Different File

The easiest way to unlock a Word document for editing is to save it as a different file. This will create a copy of the Word document which will be unlocked so that you can make changes to it. To do this:

1. Open the locked word document and press “File” (or the office button if you are using an older version of Word).
2. Choose “Save As” and pick a location.
3. Name the file as you wish and then save the file.

After you have opened the newly saved file, you should be able to make changes to that Word document.

Method 2 – Online Tool (without Password)

LostMyPass can be used to remove editing restrictions from a Word document for free. To do this:

1. Go to the LostMyPass website and under the “File Type” menu, pick “MS Office Word”.
2. Tick the checkbox and complete the human authentication process if required.
3. Upload the Word document and continue.
4. Wait for a few seconds.
5. Download the unlocked Word document.

This will be a copy of the original Word document however you will be able to modify the document completely.

Method 3 – Save Word Document as XML (without Password)

This is a slightly complicated method however it will let you unprotect a Word document without a password. Furthermore, no third-party applications are required for this method.

1. Open the Word document you want to unlock and go to “Save As”.
2. Change the “Save as type” to “Word XML Document” and save the file.
3. Close the Word document and locate the XML file you just made.
4. Right-click on this file and choose “Open with” and then pick “Notepad”.
5. Press “CTRL + F” on your keyboard and search for “enforcement”.
6. Disable the enforcement.
   1. If the phrase is ‘w:enforcement=”1”’, replace the 1 with a 0.
   2. If the phrase is ‘w:enforcement=“on”’, replace the on with off.
7. Save the file and close the notepad document.
8. Open the modified XML file using Microsoft Word and save the file as a Word document again.

Method 4 – Passper for Word (without Password)

Passper for Word can also be used to unlock a Word document for editing. Once Passper has been downloaded and installed on your PC:

1. Open Passper for Word and choose “Remove Restrictions” on the home screen.
2. Upload your file and continue.
3. Wait for the Word document to be unlocked in a few seconds.

Passper is quick at removing editing restrictions from Word documents so if you are looking to unlock multiple Word documents, this would be the best option for you. More details on how you can utilise Passper for Word to its maximum potential can be found on the Passper website.

Conclusion

This article has demonstrated multiple methods you can use to unlock your Word document whether you know the password or not. Whilst it is important to protect Word documents, you should attempt to use a password that you will remember since these documents could contain important information. We hope this article has been useful to you and let us know in the comments below which method worked best for you.