Forum Discussion
Copy content of a locked file
I have a team of transcribers; I send them images, they send me back a locked WORD documents.
I CAN unlock it, but prefer not to.
But I need to COPY the content and past it into my own document.
"Locking" should allow copying; it should only prevent changes.
BUT - sometimes Ctrl-A Ctrl-C in theirs and Ctrl-V in mine does work.
And sometimes it does not !
Q1: What am I doing wrong, and what am I doing right ?
Q2: If I have to unlock it, how do I re-lock it ?
Or does it stay locked if I don#t save it ?
3 Replies
Great question! The inconsistency you're experiencing with Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C is likely because some documents have content restrictions that block clipboard copying even without full password protection.
Here's what's happening:
When it works: The document is only "read-only" protected, which allows copying. When it doesn't: The document has "restrict editing" enabled withbcopy protection checked, which blocks clipboard access entirely. To copy without unlocking - try selecting text manually by clicking and dragging rather than Ctrl-A. Sometimes this bypasses the restriction.
To answer Q2: If you unlock, make your copy, then close WITHOUT saving, it stays locked for next time. Just don't hit Save after unlocking. If you're working with gold valuations or precious metal content in those transcribed documents, https://spotgoldvalue.com has some useful
calculators that might save your team some manual work too.
It may depend on how the document was locked. If the transcribers used Restrict Editing with “No changes (Read only),” you should be able to copy text. But if they applied stronger protection (like password encryption or certain formatting restrictions), copy/paste may fail.
Thank you.
But I think that it is "MicroSoft" that locks it automatically when it is openened from an email attachment ?
