# Question about Microsoft Word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839 "2004-12-14T19:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/1 "2004-12-14T19:57:36Z")
I have a document that is read-only. The person has since left the company and so I have no way of getting the password. I’d like to make changes and save it to a new file, but when I do that (using Save As…) it saves as still read only and doesn’t give me an option to change the password. How can I either change the password or save to a file that’s not read-only? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![VenusProbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e495f1/32.png) [@VenusProbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusProbe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/2 "2004-12-14T20:11:51Z")
You could try [this](http://www.handyarchive.com/Utilities/Password-Recovery/9366-Word-Password-Recovery.html), I haven’t used it but the free one is worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/3 "2004-12-14T20:19:30Z")
Open the file as read-only. Go to **Tools** , then choose **Options** , then click on the \*\*Security \*\* tab. Remove the password (highlight and delete) Go to **File** , then choose **Save As**. Change the file name and click _Save_. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/4 "2004-12-14T20:19:34Z")
Have you tried selecting all the text and copying it into a newly created document? Then save it under another name. I just tried it and it works for me although I suppose there could be different levels of protection on your document that don’t allow selecting and copying the text. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/5 "2004-12-14T20:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Open the file as read-only. > Go to Tools, then choose Options, then click on the Security tab. > Remove the password (highlight and delete) > Go to File, then choose Save As. > Change the file name and click Save. The password isn’t listed there in my version. It’s blank. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/6 "2004-12-14T20:39:41Z")
The “Security” tab didn’t show for me, but copy/paste did. I thought it wouldn’t copy over all the images and formatting, but it did. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/7 "2004-12-14T20:46:40Z")
What version of Word are you running? My answer was for Word 2002. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-microsoft-word/279839/8 "2004-12-14T22:47:14Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > The “Security” tab didn’t show for me, but copy/paste did. I thought it wouldn’t copy over all the images and formatting, but it did. Thank you! Yep, that’s a real secure environment right there.