How to lock a data area on Word

To protect Word documents, we can set a password and only when entering the correct password, can the user read the file or edit the content. And instead of setting the password for the entire content, the user can only set a password for a data area, locking a Word text area only.

When locking a data area other people can still view the content as usual, but copying or editing operations will not be possible. This will limit the copying of data without permission. The following article will guide you how to lock a data area on Word.

1. How to create a password protection for Excel sheets
2. How to lock formulas in Excel
3. Instructions on how to set a password to protect the Excel file safely

1. How to lock an arbitrary section on Word

Step 1:

You select the section you want to lock by placing the cursor in the location you want to create the section and then clicking on the Page Layout tab and selecting Breaks and then selecting Continous .

Step 2:

Click on the Review tab and then select the Protect Document item , then click Restrict Formatting and editing .

Step 3:

Appears the edit interface to the right of the screen. In section 2. Editing restrictions to select in the Allow only this type of editing section in the document then select Filling in forms .

Step 4:

Continue clicking on the section Select sections . below to select the data area you want to lock.

Step 5:

A small table appears for the user to select the section to lock in the content. The Section Protection will display the full section of the document. To lock the section, select the section and click the OK button below to finish.

Go back to the edit interface and click Yes, start Enforcing Protection .

Step 6:

In the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box enter the data area security password and click OK below.

The result we will get in section 1 is locked and section 2 is still fixable. You can only black out the content in section 1 but cannot right-click to edit, or enter content.

Step 7:

To unlock the password data area, click the Review tab , select Restrict Formatting and editing , choose Editing Restriction . Looking downwards click on the Stop Protection button.

Step 8:

Enter the correct password to secure the data area, then click OK to unlock the data area.

2. Lock part, 1 small area of ​​Word data

Step 1:

First, you need to put the tab Develop out of the Word interface .

With Word 2007 , click the Office icon and select Word Options. Then click on the Popular item and then look to the right to select Show Developer tab in the Ribbon.

With Word 2010 or later, open Word Options, select the Custom Ribbon and then look to the right of the Customize the Ribbon section, select Main Tabs, and then tick Developer to display it on the toolbar.

Step 1:

You black out the data you want to lock and click the Develop tab and then click on the Rich text icon .

Step 2:

Next click on the Control Properties icon and the Content Control Properties dialog box will appear.

In this dialog you need to enter the contents including:

1. Title: Enter a title for the data area you want to lock.
2. Locking: Check the two items Content Control can be be and Content canot be edit.

Finally click OK to save.

Step 3:

Click on the Developer tab and select Protect Document to choose Restrict Formatting and Editing .

Step 4:

Also appear the right interface. Here the Formating restrictions section selects Limit Formating to a selection of styles section .

Click on the Yes start Enforcing Protection button below.

Step 5:

A password entry dialog box appears to protect the selected data area . Click OK to finish.

Finally the data area you selected is locked and cannot be edited. When you click on this area, you will see the green frame around, with the title set for the content.

Open way, we just need to click Stop Protection and enter the correct password.

So you've added a way to secure Word documents with locking an entire section in Word or locking a data area. Other people can only read the content but cannot edit it, unless you enter the correct password you created.

See more:

1. How to set PDF file password using Adobe Acrobat
2. How to create a password, enhance the security of PDF files?
3. How to secure PDF files with 2 locked layers

I wish you all success!