Word 2007 and 2010 open files read only

Anonymous
2010-07-04T20:57:05+00:00

I have word 2003 files that I am now opening with word 2010 (recently upgraded from 2007).  All existing files open as read only and I can't save them.  Even newer docx files.  How do I solve this?

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Anonymous
2012-05-23T10:45:37+00:00

One cause of this problem can be the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer.

If you try to open a Word file via Windows Explorer and you have the Preview Pane open the first thing that will happen is that the preview window will start reading the file to display the preview of that file, in the meantime Word itself will also start reading the file. Sometimes  the two process will conflict and Word will determine that it can't open the file for editing because the file is locked (by the preview window) and therefore Word will open the document as read-only. Large files and files with certain types of content can cause the file to be locked by the preview pane.

If this is the scenario that is causing your problem either disable the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer or open the file from within Word via File|Open.

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2010-07-04T21:14:13+00:00

From where are you opening the files?  Are they on a CD or were they copied to a CD and then onto the Hard Disk?  If so, the Read Only attribute of the files will have been set.  You can uncheck it by selecting the files (multiple is OK) and then right click and select Properties.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-18T17:47:41+00:00

    I have a church software program that works just fine with earlier versions of Office. But with 2010, the working files that you create your manuals won't let you save changes or take off read only status on file meant to be edited.I would like a answer so I can use my $1,000 software package.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T13:23:23+00:00

    I am having the same issue. Microsoft - PLEASE - give us a solution!!!!!

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-06T16:24:41+00:00

    I am also having this problem.  Using Word 2010 on Windows 7 for almost a year, and in the past month or so I experience random documents opening in Read Only mode, although the attribute for read only does not appear when I view properties of the file.

    I had one file open, made changes, and it would only save as--said read only at the top of the screen.  I saved with a new name, searched internet for solutions, decided to reboot my computer.  After that the original file opened normally--no read only mode.  So I opened the new file I had to create that contained my recent edits--now it was read only.

    What's going on?

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