How to Add a Password to a Microsoft Word Document

If you are saving financial information, medical records, or a personal diary in a Microsoft Word document, you should not leave it unprotected. Anyone who gains access to your computer—or anyone who intercepts the file if you send it over email—can read it.

Fortunately, Microsoft Word has built-in, military-grade encryption. You can lock your document with a password, and without that exact password, the file becomes mathematically impossible to open.

How to Encrypt Your Document

Locking a document takes only a few seconds, but it must be done from the desktop version of Word.

1. Open the document you want to protect in Microsoft Word.
2. Click on the File tab in the top-left corner of the screen.
3. Select Info from the left-hand menu.
4. Click the large Protect Document button (it has an icon of a padlock and a key).
5. From the drop-down menu, select Encrypt with Password.

Choosing a Secure Password

A pop-up window will appear asking you to type your new password.

1. Type a strong password. (Warning: Passwords are case-sensitive, so pay attention to your Caps Lock key).
2. Click OK.
3. Word will ask you to Reenter password to confirm you didn’t make a typo. Type it exactly the same way again.
4. Click OK.

You will now see the “Protect Document” section highlighted in yellow, stating that a password is required to open this document. You must click Save (or press Ctrl+S) for the encryption to be permanently applied to the file.

Important Warnings About Word Passwords

Before you lock your files, there is a critical rule you must understand: Microsoft cannot recover forgotten passwords.

If you lose or forget the password you applied to your document, your data is gone forever. There is no “Forgot my password” link, and there is no backdoor that Microsoft support can use to unlock it for you. It is highly recommended that you store the password in a secure password manager.

How to Remove a Password

If you no longer need the document to be secure, you can easily strip the encryption away.

1. Open the document (you will need to enter the password one last time to get in).
2. Go back to File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password.
3. The password box will appear, showing your current password as a row of black dots.
4. Delete the dots so the text box is completely empty.
5. Click OK.
6. Save the document. It is now permanently unlocked.