Read-only mode in Word 2016 (Mac) locks out any edits until Duplicated and saved?

Anonymous
2015-09-05T15:01:42+00:00

Why do all docs opened in read-only mode (like every attachment from Outlook) lock down the file for no editing until it is saved? The new error bar comes up and says Read Only: To Save a copy of this file, tap Duplicate. Then tapping the Duplicate button brings up a save dialog box. I definitely don’t want to save the dozens of attachments I access on a daily basis, but sometimes you want to tweak some spacing to print a resume or any other number of things.

I get that Outlook saves into the temp folder, and I've ensured there are read/write permissions on that folder. Is there a setting I'm missing to fix this? I can't tell if it's a bug or feature. Forcing a save first would be a new and rather invasive design choice.

Anyone else getting this behavior and find a fix?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-05-06T21:37:25+00:00

I found a workaround to this issue.

I have a Mac with El Capitan (not relevant) and Office 2016. When I open a Word attachment from Outlook, it prompts to Duplicate which requires that I save it first in a non-temporary folder area before I can edit it.

My workaround is

  1. open the email in Outlook.
  2. You will see the attachment with a Word icon. Next to it is the PREVIEW button which uses the Mac's built-in Preview application. Click on the preview button to open it in the preview application.
  3. In the preview window in the upper right corner click on the OPEN IN WORD icon. It opens it in Word in edit mode without requiring a save.

I did not find the problem or resolution to be related to illegal characters.It's a deliberate sandboxing issue which makes sense from a security and UI point of view. It is a pain but, was put in place deliberately for a reason. I only started to investigate it after one of my Mac users complained about the extra steps. The biggest pain for the person was saving to a non-temporary folder area. If it defaulted to DOWNLOADS or MY DOCUMENTS, then this would have been more palatable.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-03-25T18:58:53+00:00

    That is absolutely beyond me.  They are making it harder and harder to stick with Microsoft Products on the Mac.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-28T18:06:49+00:00

    THANK YOU PHILLIP ! This problem had been giving me fits - turned out to simply be one of the illegal characters you mention. Many Thanks !

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-02-13T12:48:06+00:00

    I have a similar issue, word has locked a file as read only. It is only one file.... the other open just fine, however I need to keep the date stamp, so duplicating the file will remove it. How can edit my document again? 

    Did anyone has a working solution?

    Thanks in advance

    Benacello

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