Word Docs/Excel Opening as Read Only after MS Update

Anonymous
2013-08-15T18:27:44+00:00

Team after this weeks update from Microsoft all my Word and Excel documents that I create save fine, but when I open them they open in Read only mode.  I have to keep performing a save as with a new file name to get by the issue.    I also get an error that I had not received  before when opening some older Word and Excel documents.  The error reads "There was a problem sending the command to the program".  I click on OK and the error goes away and the document opens, but again in Read only mode.  HELP....

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-08-16T07:00:20+00:00

Hi,

As I understand when you save and open the document, the documents open in read only mode and you also receive an error message while opening the documents. Let me assist you with the issue.

Follow the steps mentioned and check if it helps:

Step 1: Check if Office applications are running in compatibility mode:

·         Browse to the location mentioned below:

For Win7 32 bit:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\ClentX86 \Root\Office15

For Win7 64 bit:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX64\Root\Office15

·         Right click on WINWORD.EXE< Properties< Compatibility

·         Uncheck the box Run this Program in Compatibility Mode, ensure you also click on the option change settings for all users tab at the bottom of the same screen

·         Click on Apply and Ok.

·         Open Word and check if it works.

Note: If Word works fine then follow the above steps for Excel applications (EXCEL.EXE)

Step 2: Check the option to save the Word or Excel files in read only mode is check:

·         Open Word document.

·         Click on File< Save As< Browse to the location where you want to save the file.

·         Click on arrow mark pointing downwards next to Tools and click on General Options.

·         Ensure the option Read-only recommended is unchecked and click Ok.

·         Now try to save the document, re-pen the saved document and check.

Step 3: Repair Office 2013 installation:

If the above steps do not fix the issue then repair Office 2013 installation and check. Refer the link mentioned to repair Office 2013 installation:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/project-help/repair-or-remove-office-HA010357402.aspx

I hope the above suggestion helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-09T16:04:28+00:00

    Using both MsWord 2010 & 2013. Documents open as "read only", however, if the document is opened from Windows Explorer rather than from within MsWord, it opens normally not "read only". Also found if the "read only" document is closed, then immediately re-opened, it opens normally not as "read only.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-10T14:49:22+00:00

    I have tried all the advice shown above, that seemed to apply directly to my situation, and anything else I could find and so far all my files in Excel, Access and Word are still locked to Read only.  I have even tried taking the flag off an individual file and it still retains the Read only status.  The problem is even worse than that as when it insists that I save under a different name (it offers "Copy of ....) I cannot even do that as my whole directory structure is locked against me and like some of your correspondents I have Admin status. It will only let me save directly into the "Documents" folder which is hardly helpful as a filing system.  Oh and to make matters worse the Start menu has just failed.  Having had a week of this I am extremely frustrated.

    I should add that all that all these problems are on my workhorse desktop which was a W7-1 to W10 upgrade.  The downloads for this appeared to take over 18 hours on 40mbs fibre.  My small lap top was a W8 to W8.1 to W10 upgrade and doesn't have any of these problems. The laptop download took 3 hours on the same network.

    I have a temporary work around.  My backup to an external hard drive is not contaminated and I can work from that drive but not Tb internal drive.  Having both live and backup on the same drive is not a good idea, sadly, Microsoft, it is necessary.

    Should I scrap it and start again?

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-09-10T16:16:35+00:00

    When this happened to me I reverted back to W7 having tried many solutions. It only took a few minutes to revert back. I thought of copying my files to a flash drive and then upgrading to W10 again and loading the files. I found out that I only had a 30 day window to revert but luckily I still had time. I had heard that Microsoft doesn't allow the free upgrade if someone reverts back but I got those messages to upgrade for free anyway. I finally decided to stay with W7 until Microsoft fixes this problem and others that may be occurring. My advice to anyone doing the upgrade is to copy all documents to a flash drive, cd or cloud first and then replace the read only ones after the upgrade. I found one other annoying problem. Word and Excel loaded very slowly after the W10 upgrade but quickly in W7. Good luck with whatever you choose.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-12-11T16:05:51+00:00

    I found that all local files for a client were opening in view-only mode as well.  Did the previous recommendations:  repair installation, remove HKCU...Word/Data registry entry, add Desktop folder to Trusted Locations, etc.

    In the end the solution was simple.  Open a document, it's displayed in view-only mode, click on the View menu, click on Edit Document.  Close Word.  Now all documents open in Edit Mode.

    Not sure if it was by design or a bug, but it sure frustrated the client, as well as myself since internet searches all led to more complicated solutions.  She was not aware of switching to View Mode, guessing errant click.

    When in this condition, you can open Word from Start Menu or shortcut (e.g., not double-clicking an existing document), select Blank Document, the blank document opens in Edit Mode, type in some text and save it.  When you open this document again, it is in view-only mode.

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