How to Remove Word Password Which Restricts the Editing of A Word 2016-2007 Document

Before sharing a Word document, you may choose to protect/lock the document with a password so it cannot be edited by the reader. A Word document with editing restriction can be opened in read-only mode. To make any change with the protected document, you need to enter your password to unlock the document. What to do if you forget the password?

Here I am going to show you a simple way how to remove forgotten Word password when you need to make a change with your protected Word 2016/2013/2010/2007 document.

How to Remove Password from Protected Word 2016-2007 Document?

1. Make a copy of the original document. Rename the extension name to ZIP, like as a ZIP compressed file.

   

2. Double click the .ZIP file, Windows Explorer will display the contents of that archive.
3. Navigate to the Word folder and delete the Settings.xml file from the folder.

   

4. Close the window and then rename the .ZIP file back to DOCX file.
5. Next time when you open the same document and try to edit the content, you will not be prompted by the editing restriction window.

This method only works with Word document protected with modify password. Additionally, if the Word document is also protected with a file open password, you need to remove the file open password before using this method to remove editing restrictions.