Editing restrictions are usually used to prevent unwanted changes to a Word document as they allow people to view the contents of the document but not make any changes.
If you go to turn off editing restrictions, then you will be asked to enter in a password. So, what happens if you forget the password or do not know the password and must absolutely make a change to the document?
Luckily, there is a sneaky workaround which will allow you to remove editing restrictions in Word without the password, allowing you to freely edit the document.
Remove Editing Restrictions in Word Without Password
Here are the detailed steps to remove restrict editing in Word without the password.
It is recommended that before proceeding you make a copy of the Word document, in case of data loss.
1. Right click on the Word document and click on Rename. Now change the extension from .docx to .zip.
2. From the pop-up, click on Yes
3. Right click on the zip file and then click on Open With > Windows Explorer
4. Open the Word folder and then delete the settings.xml file by right clicking on it and then clicking on Delete.
5. Now change the extension of the Word document back to .docx.
The editing restrictions will now be removed, and you are free to edit the document.