Hello, my name is Erin.
This tutorial shows how to open files in Protected View in Microsoft Word.
Protected View opens files in an uneditable mode that restricts certain elements,
such as linked images and cloud fonts, that may be infected with viruses or malware.
Protected View is stricter than Read-Only mode.
Unless you have changed your security settings, Word should automatically open potentially unsafe files in Protected View.
Potentially unsafe files include, but are not limited to,
those that originate from the internet, email attachments, or someone else’s cloud storage.
Although this process is typically automatic, you can manually open files in Protected View.
For example, if someone gives you a Word doc on a thumb drive, you may want to open it in Protected View.
Before we move on, it's important to note that Protected View does not provide complete protection from infected files.
Any time you open a file from an unknown source, you are risking corruption or infection.
So of course, proceed with caution and at your own risk.
Today I’ll be using Word for Microsoft 365.
These steps also apply to the standalone versions of the software back to Word 2013.
Protected View is not currently available in Word for Mac.
If you are using Word through an enterprise license, you may have a feature called Application Guard instead of Protected View.
Please contact your organization’s network administrator for information about Application Guard.
To open a file in Protected View, launch your Word software.
And then select the Open button in the Home screen.
Alternatively, if you already have another document open,
select the File tab in the ribbon followed by the Open tab in the Backstage view.
Next, select the Browse button.
And then locate and select the file in the Open dialog box.
Be very careful not to double-click the file because double-clicking will immediately open the file
as a trusted document in the normal view.
Now, select the Open menu arrow.
But be careful not to select the Open button itself.
Next, select Open in Protected View from the drop-down menu.
The file should open with a yellow warning bar at the top of the screen.
If you see a red warning bar, that means that Microsoft has detected a threat within the file.
If you are comfortable with the file and want to view it in the normal editable mode,
select the Enable Editing button to leave Protected View.
I have created many other videos about Microsoft Word including “How to Restrict Editing in Microsoft Word.”
And, “How to Restrict Style Changes in Microsoft Word.”
Please see the complete list in the playlist titled “How to Use Microsoft Word,” which is linked in the description box below.
All the steps we just performed are listed with images on erinwrightwriting.com,
along with all my other writing-related software tutorials to help you succeed at work and in the classroom.
Feel free to leave me a comment if there’s a specific topic that you would like me to talk about in the future.
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Thank you so much for watching!