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?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

61 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-03-29T08:44:21+00:00

    I was having the same problem and your reply helped me understand why this was happening. Thank you for taking the time to explain!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-03-10T08:21:39+00:00

    Here is my simple workaround for this annoying problem.

    If you double click on a word file in explorer too soon it will open as read only.

    If you just select the file and then wait a couple of seconds and hit "ENTER" it will open correctly.

    I don't know or understand the science as to why this works, but it does. Hope this helps.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-20T13:39:06+00:00

    I found that these were documents that were saved in the root of the C drive. then I decided to look over the UAC settings because it has a direct effect on the files in the root of C. disabled the UAC settings and the files opened properly.

    I wish I had found this earlier! I turned UAC off (before I saw this post) and it worked for me also. This appears to be the best solution but is probably one Microsoft will not recommend.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments