How to Password Protect Your MS Office Documents

Microsoft Office is used worldwide to create various types of documents e. g. word documents, spreadsheets, etc. Some documents may contain some classified information that should not be available to everyone for the sake of privacy. So, the best way to prevent unauthorized access is to encrypt and password-protect your MS Office documents.

There are a lot of third-party applications available online to password-protect your files. However, Microsoft itself provides an Encryption function in MS Office. It means you can encrypt and password-protect your MS Office documents against unauthorized access. This feature is available even in older versions of MS Office, i.e. MS Office 2007.

SEE ALSO: How to Save MS Office Documents as PDF without any third-party Software?

Encrypt and Password Protect MS Office Documents i.e. Word, Excel

In this tutorial, we will see how to password-protect Microsoft Office documents. The best part is that we won’t use any third-party software because we are using MS Office Word in this tutorial.

Step 1: Open MS Office and Create a Document

First of all, open MS Word or MS Excel, depending on your requirements. In this tutorial, we are taking the example of an MS Word document. So, after opening MS Word on your PC, create your document and type whatever you want to type.

Open Ms Office Create Your Ms Word Document
Open MS Office and create your Word document

Step 2: Encrypt the Document with a Password

Now, after you are ready with your document, click the File menu and select Info. After that click Protect Document and select Encrypt with Password option from drop-down menu.

NOTE: If you are using MS Office 2007, click on the MS Office Button in the top-left corner and select Prepare > Encrypt Document.

Go To File Info And Select Encrypt With Password From Protect Document
Go to File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password

Step 3: Type a Password to Protect your MS Office Document

Now, you will see a small pop-up window asking for the password. So, just enter the password that you want to set for that document and click OK.

After that, you will see another pop-up asking to confirm your password. Re-enter the same password again and press OK. MS Office will use this password to encrypt and protect your documents.

Type The Password For Your Ms Office Document Twice To Encrypt And Protect It
Type the password to encrypt the document

Now, your document has been encrypted with a password successfully. It’s time to save it.


Step 4: Save your MS Office Document

Now, let’s save the document you have just created. Press Ctrl + S or select Save from the File menu. After that type a name, select the destination, and click the Save button to save your document.

Save Your file To Desired Destination
Save your document

Step 5: Test your MS Office Document

Finally, it’s time to check the document. Close and re-open the document that you have just created.

Now, you will see a password prompt every time you open this document. Enter the password to access the document. Anyone who doesn’t have the decryption password won’t be able to access the document.

Type The Password To Open Encrypted file
Type the password to open the document

SEE ALSO: All MS Word Shortcut Keys for Windows.

Encrypt MS Office Documents using Password to Avoid Unauthorized Access

Above tutorial explained, how you can encrypt or protect your Microsoft Office documents with a password to avoid unauthorized access. We have used an example of an MS Word document but it will work for other formats also. The encryption feature is also available in older versions of Office.

Enjoy your document with enhanced security. Hope you liked this tutorial. Feel free to write in comments if you have any queries or suggestions.

Editorial Staff

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