Among the core Microsoft Office applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all include the Protected View feature. You can easily bypass Protected View if you need to edit a certain document or other file, but you should also know where and how to manage Protected View. When enabled, Protected View opens Office documents in read-only mode with macros and other content disabled.

To protect yourself and your computer from malware and other threats, Microsoft offers a feature called Protected View. Opening Microsoft Office documents from unknown sources can present a security risk because such files can carry viruses. Image: maxkabakov, Getty Images/iStockphoto For more info, visit our Terms of Use page. This may influence how and where their products appear on our site, but vendors cannot pay to influence the content of our reviews.

We may be compensated by vendors who appear on this page through methods such as affiliate links or sponsored partnerships. Microsoft's Protected View feature tries to protect you against potentially malicious files and documents.

How to work with Protected View in Microsoft Office

Excel remove protected view