How to password protect a Word document

What password protecting a Word document actually does

When you set a password to open, Word encrypts the whole .docx file. Since Office 2013, the default is AES-256 with the password hashed many thousands of times, the same family of encryption used for online banking. Nobody can read the text, the pictures or the metadata without the password, not even by renaming the file to .zip and looking inside, because the content inside is scrambled.

That strength has a flip side: there is no back door. Microsoft cannot reset the password, and neither can a repair shop. If you forget it, the document is gone for practical purposes. Pick the password with that in mind and store it in a password manager.

Old .doc files from Word 97-2003 used a much weaker scheme that can be broken in minutes. If you still have files in that format, save them as .docx before adding a password. DOC to DOCX converts them if you do not have Word.

How to password protect a Word document on Windows

These steps are for Word 2013 through Word for Microsoft 365. Older versions have the same option under the Office button, Prepare.

The Protect Document button also turns yellow with the note 'A password is required to open this document', which is the quickest way to tell whether a file is already encrypted.

1. Open the document and click File in the top left corner.
2. Click Info, then the Protect Document button, then Encrypt with Password.
3. Type the password and click OK. Type it again to confirm and click OK. Passwords are case sensitive and can be up to 255 characters.
4. Save the file (Ctrl+S). The encryption is applied when you save, so a document you close without saving is not protected.
5. Close and reopen the file once to check that the password prompt appears.

How to password protect a Word document on a Mac

Word for Mac keeps the same feature under the Review tab instead of the File menu.

Alternatively, choose Tools, Protect Document from the menu bar, which opens the same dialog. The Pages app on a Mac has its own File, Set Password command, but a password set in Pages stays with the .pages file and is dropped when you export to Word.

1. Open the document and click the Review tab.
2. Click Protect, then Protect Document.
3. Under Security, type a password in 'Set a password to open this document'. Leave 'Set a password to modify' empty unless you need it (see the next section for why).
4. Click OK, confirm the password, and save the document.

Open password, modify password, Restrict Editing: which one do you need?

Word offers three things that look similar and are not. Only the first one is encryption.

'Mark as Final' under Protect Document is weaker still: it just displays a banner, and any reader can click Edit Anyway. For anything confidential, use the password to open.

• Password to open (Encrypt with Password): the file is encrypted. Without the password nothing can be read. This is what 'password protect' should mean.
• Password to modify: the file opens for anyone in read-only mode, and the password is needed only to edit. The content is not encrypted, and the restriction can be removed by saving a copy. Treat it as a polite request, not a lock.
• Restrict Editing (Review, Protect, Restrict Editing): limits the kinds of edits allowed, such as comments only or filling in form fields, with an optional password to stop the protection. The text is readable by anyone and the password can be stripped. Useful for forms and templates, useless for confidentiality.

How to password protect a Word document online

If you do not have Word, or you are on a phone, Chromebook or a computer where you cannot install anything, Protect Word puts an AES-256 password on a .docx or .pptx in the browser. It is free, no sign-up, no watermark, and the file is processed in memory and deleted after 30 minutes. Files up to 300 MB are accepted, and you can protect up to 50 files in one batch.

Google Docs cannot encrypt a document by itself. Its sharing settings control who can open a file in Drive, but once someone downloads it as .docx there is no password. If you need the file itself locked, protect it with Word or with the online tool after downloading.

1. Open the Protect Word page and choose the .docx (or .pptx) file.
2. Type the password. Use at least 12 characters; a short password on a strong algorithm is still a weak lock.
3. Download the protected file and test it once by opening it. Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs all prompt for the password.

How to remove a password from a Word document you know

Removing the password is the same dialog in reverse, and you must know the current password to do it.

Online, Unlock Word removes the password from a .docx or .pptx you have the right to open, and it also strips editing restrictions. Enter the current password, download the unlocked copy, and keep the protected original if you still need it.

1. Open the document and type the password when prompted.
2. On Windows, go to File, Info, Protect Document, Encrypt with Password, delete the dots in the box so it is empty, and click OK. On a Mac, go to Review, Protect, Protect Document and clear the open password field.
3. Save the file. The next time it opens, no prompt appears.

Can a forgotten Word password be recovered?

For a password to open on a modern .docx, no. AES-256 is designed so that the only way in is to guess the password. Tools that advertise 'password recovery' do exactly that: they try millions of guesses. A short, dictionary-style password might fall to that in hours; a random 12-character password would take longer than anyone can wait. Nobody, including Microsoft support, can bypass it.

What you can still do:

• Check your password manager, your browser's saved notes and the email or message that delivered the file. Senders often put the password in a separate message.
• Ask the person who protected it. If a colleague created it, their copy may be unprotected or saved under a different password.
• Look for earlier versions: OneDrive and SharePoint keep version history, and your Sent folder may hold an unprotected copy from before the password was added.
• If the file only has a password to modify or Restrict Editing, that is not encryption and can be removed: open it read-only and save a copy, or run it through Unlock Word.

How to send a password protected document safely

Encryption only helps if the password does not travel with the file. Sending the document and the password in the same email defeats the purpose, since anyone who reads the message has both.

• Send the password through a different channel: a text message, a phone call or a chat app, not the same email thread.
• Agree on a password in advance for recurring exchanges with the same person, such as a monthly report.
• Do not reuse the password you use for your accounts. The recipient will see it in plain text.
• Tell the recipient the file is protected, so they do not assume it is corrupted when Word asks for a password.
• If the document has to go to several people, consider whether each one needs the editable file or whether a protected PDF would do.

Protected PDF instead of protected Word

A password protected PDF is often the better thing to send. The recipient cannot accidentally edit it, it looks the same on every device, and every PDF reader knows how to ask for a password. Word can do this in one step: File, Save As, choose PDF, click Options, and check 'Encrypt the document with a password'.

Without Word, convert the document with Word to PDF, then lock the result with Protect PDF, which uses AES-256 as well. The PDF route also lets you set a separate permissions password that blocks printing or copying, which Word does not offer. Our guide on password protecting a PDF covers that side in detail.

Keep the unprotected .docx for yourself so you can edit it later, and store it somewhere access-controlled rather than relying on the password alone.