Occasionally, you will want to send out files to your friends, colleagues, and family. But you do not want them to alter your files.
With this, there are several ways to make your document read-only. The initial and probably the easiest way is to include the capabilities of your OS to make such alterations which will allow your files to be left unaltered. You can do this by right-clicking on your document and changing the properties of the document to read-only. In addition, you can accomplish this from within Word itself just by following these steps:
Create your document as you normally would. Select the Save As option from the File menu. This allows you to select from a list of options provided by the Save As dialog box. Then, Specify the location and the name of the file as you want it. This depends on your version of MS Word, but you can click on the Options button where MS Word provides you with the Save tab of the Options dialog box.
You can also click on the Tools button and select Security wherein MS Word provides you with the Security dialog box. In the dialog box, you can specify a password and select a read-only recommendation for the file. Click on the OK button in order to close the dialog box. MS Word again provides you with the Save As dialog box. Finally, Click on Save to save your file.
Your file can easily be protected if you save it as a Word document format. Follow these steps to accomplish this:
Select Protect Document from the Tools menu. Word brandishes the Protect Document dialog box. Afterwards, select the Forms option. Next, type a password at the bottom of the dialog box. Click on the OK button at this point. When prompted, type your password again. From the Save as list, choose normal.
