Read only problem in word/excel etc help please?

[Chrissie Smiff]

Since going on to Win 7 and now Win 8.1 I keep opening word/excel documents but it won't let me edit them. At the top it keeps saying (Read only). Has anyone any idea why please?

Off for dinner in a moment (if I don't reply straight away) but grateful for any suggestions.

[Elaine ..Spain]

I've known this to happen when copying files from a computer to external drive and then on to another computer .. not sure why (not an expert on this!!)

Right click on the folder which contains the files you are referring to - select Properties - and check whether the attribute "read only" is ticked - if so untick it!

If that doesn't work then hopefully someone who knows what they are talking about will be along soon!

[Chrissie Smiff]

Thank you for trying Elaine but I have just checked and read only isn't ticked.

[Elaine ..Spain]

.. over to the experts then!

[PeteW1959]

This can happen when Word/Excel crashes, or indeed if the computer crashes or isn't shut down properly. The newer versions keep automatic backups, and until you clear the list of 'rescued' documents, the original will not be editable.

Do you have a 'Document Recovery' panel at the left of your screen? If so choose the most recent version there and then close the window; this should fix it.

If not go to the folder that contains the document (Start Button - Documents and navigate to the folder) and right click on the problem document. Choose 'Copy' and then right click an empty area of the folder and select 'Paste'. You should end up with a copy of your original with 'Copy' appended to the name. Delete the original, then rename the copy to the same as the original and it should then be editable.

[Caroline]

What version of Office do you have? Since I got Office 2013, at the same time as Windows 8, so I don't know if it is Office or Windows, but when I open somebody else's, i.e. a downloaded Office document, I get that message. Sometimes it says it is in Protected mode and do I want to edit it.

I don't get it when I have one of my own document that didn't save/close correctly as Pete describes above. I get the usual panel on the left when that happens.

[DavidNewton]

Caroline

I don't know if it is relevant but I have had this problem when opening email attachments directly in Word. Saving them locally first and then opening the local copy seems to work.

David

[TrevorFranklin]

Hi Chrissie
It all depends where you are open them from.

If the files are via internet links or as email attachments
By default Office 2010 will open documents in protected mode that fail validation (have potential errors in them), have been downloaded from the internet, are located in potentially unsafe location or include in email as attachments.
Protected view opens the document in read-only mode thus minimising the exposure to some potential security threat.

When a file is opened as read only you will either see a button at the top bar of the document that says 'allow editing'
Or, if you click on the menu command of FILE and then choose INFO, you should see this option there.

There are plenty of sites that tell you how to deactivate this 'open in protected mode' option, but it is not advisable to do this, as it is a measure to make sure that viruses do not attack you.

If the files you are trying to open are ones on your PC and not ones as a download from a Net location or attachments etc, it is a problem with your 'trusted location' settings:
In Word etc, select FILE
then select OPTIONS
select TRUST CENTRE and then the settings button on the right
select TRUSTED LOCATIONS and click on the ADD NEW LOCATION button
You can then brows to the location on your PC and tell Office to trust any document opened from there

[TrevorFranklin]

You can read more here

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/excel-help/what-is-protected-view-HA010355931.aspx?CTT=1

[Chrissie Smiff]

Thank you Pete, Caroline David and Trevor As I am not very computer literate I have copied all your suggestions to a word document and will try and work out what the problem is. It doesn't happen all the time, just now and then. Whn it happened to me on Monday it was a word document on my separate hard drive that was causing the problem.
It will take some working out when/why it is occurring, because for the last couple of weeks or so I have been hopping back and forth from a laptop with Win to a new one with Win 8.1. I shall have to try everything in both to see whether it happens on one or both.

At least I have something to work with now to try and sort it out

[Chrissie Smiff]

I mentioned that I had copied your suggestions on to a word document. I saved it to the computer but I have just tried to save it to my separate hard drive, so that I can see it on the other computer and it won't even save it there because it says it is a read only document.

[PeteW1959]

This is important; is it saying it is a read only DOCUMENT, or a read only LOCATION? Also are you using 'Save as...' in Word to save the copy to your external drive?

Half the battle with problems like this is to spot a pattern. Most seemingly random events that happen occasionally are not random at all, and should be repeatable once you identify exactly what conditions lead to the error.

Make sure you note EXACTLY what steps you are taking each time, and we should be able to narrow it down.

[Chrissie Smiff]

Thank you Pete I'm not ignoring your suggestion but am trying to check when and how it happens thoroughly. I was on the Win 7 laptop yesterday and it said Read only DOCUMENT. I was trying to copy it as Save AS to my external hard drive.
I am now on the Win 8.1. laptop and attempting to get the document on here to test whether I get the same result.
Will come back when I have tried various things

Thanks again for all the help