Microsoft Word 2010 : Collaborating with Others - Limiting What Other Users Can Do to a Document

9/8/2014 9:25:20 PM

After you’ve dealt with comments and changes from four or five different people, you’ll probably decide that it’s time to declare the document “hands-off.” Word lets you restrict the changes other people can make to a document. You get to decide if others can make only certain types of changes or none at all. You can even protect the document with a password so nobody can make allowed changes unless they know the password.

Editing restrictions are especially important if the document is stored on a shared drive where other users can access it. They protect the changes you’ve made and prevent anyone else from messing things up.

Here’s how to restrict other users’ editing privileges:

1.	Open the document and go to the Review tab.
2.	In the Protect group, click Restrict Editing. The Restrict Formatting and Editing pane opens, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Restricting the way others can format or edit a document.
3.	Click the Limit Formatting to a Selection of Styles check box, if you want to limit the way others can reformat the document.
4.	Click the Settings link. The Formatting Restrictions dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Limiting the formatting changes others can make to a document.
5.	In the middle of the dialog box is a list of all the available formatting styles. By default, all the styles are selected (check marks appear in their check boxes), so another user can apply any style to the document. If you want to restrict the style choices, do one of the following: Click Recommended Minimum to limit the available styles to a small set defined by Word. This is the easiest way to restrict formatting but still gives other users some flexibility in formatting the document with styles. Click None to deselect all the styles in the list. Other users cannot apply any style to the document. Scroll through the list of styles and deselect the ones you don’t want other people to apply to the document. The list is long, and you need to be familiar with all the styles to make the right choices.
6.	Select any or all of the following options, or leave them deselected (the default): Allow AutoFormat to Override Formatting Restrictions: If another user invokes an AutoFormat option, Word applies the format, even if it means using a style that you have prohibited. Block Theme or Scheme Switching: This option prevents other users from applying a new theme (or any part of a theme) to the document. Block Quick Style Set Switching: This option prevents other users from using a different set of quick styles in the document.
7.	Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane.
8.	Click the Editing Restrictions check box if you want to dictate what, if any, changes other users can make to the document’s text.
9.	Click the Editing Restrictions drop-down arrow, and click one of the following options: No Changes (Read Only): Others users can’t make any changes to the text. Tracked Changes: Other users can make changes, but Track Changes is activated and will mark their revisions. Comments: Other users can only add comments to the document. Filling In Forms: Other users can only fill in form fields, if the document contains any.
10.	Do not select any options in the Exceptions section of the pane. It can get really confusing.
11.	Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. The Start Enforcing Protection dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3. Protecting the document with a password.
12.	To protect the document with a password, click the Password option, type a password in the first text box, and then type the password again in the second box. Other users can’t violate your editing restrictions unless they can provide the password, so be careful whom you share it with.
13.	To protect the document with user authentication...well, don’t bother. Authentication is a whole ‘nother ball of wax.
14.	Click OK.
15.	Close the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane by clicking the Close button at the right end of its title bar.
16.	Save the document.

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Microsoft Word 2010 : Collaborating with Others - Limiting What Other Users Can Do to a Document

Figure 1. Restricting the way others can format or edit a document.

Figure 2. Limiting the formatting changes others can make to a document.

Figure 3. Protecting the document with a password.