Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Protecting Your Revisions.

Protecting Your Revisions

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated May 21, 2020)

Word includes the ability to protect your document so that only you can make changes to it without Track Changes being turned on. This can be a great help if you want to make sure you are the only one that can make the "final changes" to a document. To enable this level of protection, follow these steps:

Display the Review tab of the ribbon.
Click the Protect Document tool within the Protect group if you're using Word 2007 or Word 2010. If you're using Word 2013, click on Restrict Editing in the Protect group. And for Word 2016 users, click on Protect and select Restrict Editing. Word displays the Protect Document pane at the right side of your document.
In the Editing Restrictions section of the pane, choose the Allow Only This Type of Editing In the Document check box. Word enables the drop-down list under the checkbox.
Using the drop-down list, choose Tracked Changes.
Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. Word displays the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box.
Enter a password (twice) in the dialog box.
Click on OK.
Save the file as normal.

When you protect a document in this way, the Track Changes feature is turned on automatically. With this type of protection turned on, people can still load and edit the document. They cannot, however, turn off Track Changes, nor can they make decisions on which changes will be accepted or rejected.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6265) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Protecting Your Revisions.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Inserting a Sound File in Your Document

Got an audio file you want to insert in your document? It's easy to do when you use the Object dialog box, as described ...

Discover More

Linking Comments to Multiple Cells

In Excel, single comments are associated with single cells. If you want to have a comment be linked to multiple cells, ...

Discover More

Quickly Entering Dates and Times

Excel provides keyboard shortcuts for a variety of purposes. This tip examines two such shortcuts, designed to allow ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Deleting Table Columns with Track Changes Turned On

If you are editing a document with Track Changes turned on, Word won't let you delete a column in a table and have it ...

Discover More

Tracked Changes Notification when Opening

If you have Word configured to show markup on-screen and you look through a document, it is easy to tell where changes ...

Discover More

Rejecting Changes in a Document

When a group of people edits a document with Track Changes turned on, it can be tempting for one of the editors to use ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 6 - 6?

2016-02-23 17:17:17

Lynda

A colleague & I tried this out. We found that if the protection is set up in 2010 and sent to someone in 2013, the track changes were not turned on. If done from 2013 to 2010, it worked.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.