Suggesting That a File Be Opened as Read-Only

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As mentioned, you can attach a password to a document and thereby allow only certain people (the people who know the password) to modify the document. When a password is required to modify the document, those who don't know the password can open the document in read-only mode only. In addition to configuring a password, you can also configure a document to display a dialog box suggesting that users open the document as read-only. When you configure this setting, users can choose whether they want to open the document in normal or read-only mode, without entering a password.

You might want to configure a document with the Read-Only Recommended option if the document is a template, for example, and you want to encourage users to use the template in read-only mode to ensure that they don't inadvertently change the template. On the other hand, some users might have to modify the template at times, so you don't want to make the template read-only in all cases.

To configure a document so that it suggests to viewers that they open the document in read-only mode, follow these steps:

1. Choose Tools, Options, and click the Security tab.

2. Select the Read-Only Recommended check box, click OK, and save your document.

When users open a file with the Read-Only Recommended option turned on, they'll see a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 28-7. The dialog box asks whether the user wants to open the document in read-only format, and the user can click Yes, No, or Cancel. If users open the document as read-only, they can make changes to the document, but they must save the changed version with a new name (thereby not overwriting the original document).

Figure 28-7: When the Read-Only Recommended check box is selected, users can click Yes to open a read-only version, click No to open the document normally, or click Cancel to bypass opening the document altogether.

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