The last link on the bottom-left side of your screen is labeled “Trust Center” as indicated by the arrow below. Once you click on Options (from the step before this one), you’re taken to Word Options where you can access the Trust Center. This is the last link to the bottom-left side of your screen as indicated by the arrow below.

You’ll see this tab on your blank file just as indicated by the red arrow below.Ĭlick on Options. This should be the blank document on the top-left side of your desktop as seen in the red box and arrow below.

Unless you’re using older versions of Word, this is what you should see when you open the software. The obvious first step is to open your Microsoft Word to see the display as shown in the image below. You can also skip Protect View altogether and go straight to editing mode whenever you download Word-formatted documents from the Internet. Click “Enable Editing” as you’d see on the Message Bar. Switching from Protected View to editing mode takes only a few clicks. However, Word isn’t locked to the Protected View format.

By using Protected View, you can read a file and see its contents while reducing the risks. To help protect your computer, files from these potentially unsafe locations are opened in Protected View. Giving reasons for setting documents to Protected View, Microsoft’s website reads:įiles from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations can contain viruses, worms, or other kinds of malware that can harm your computer. Protected View is Microsoft’s way of protecting your computer from harm while giving you access to the document you downloaded.

Edit a protected word document