Inserting Caption: "Protects Documents" prevents Editing

[Phil Stunell]

When I insert a caption, for a table that was created in EXCEL, and copied into word (retaining the source formatting), the complete document becomes protected so that it can't be modified or edited.


1) Word tells me that the document has been protected
2) I am the only author
3) It does not allow me to remove the protection
4) This was not the first or only caption inserted into the document, other inserts appear not to have created no problems

I have recovered an earlier version, reinserted the table, and tried to insert a caption, and the problem recurred.
I have also had one previous instance of the problem, when adding captions to images in a different document

So, can any body explain:-
1) Why this occurs and how I can prevent it?
2) How to remove the protection from a document once they have been applied?

Word 36 + windows 10

[Charles Kenyon]

1. Inserting a caption will not, on its own, protect a document. Period.
2. Did you try, under the Review Tab or the Developer Tab, try to turn off protection? What did you do? What happened?

[Phil Stunell]

My observations are:-
1) I have been working on the word document for 2-3 days and it includes tables and figures with captions
2) I prepared another table in Excel and copied and pasted the table into the document
3) I selected the table and tried to insert caption (right mouse click)
4) The caption was inserted, but the document was 'protected' - clicking anywhere in the document returned the cursor to the start of the document. The cells in the table appeared to still be highlighted after the caption was inserted - and I could not edit or modify the table.

In the review and document info section, WORD said that the document was protected and that i could only fill in forms.

The option to change or modify the protected areas was not available / greyed out.

Clicking anywhere in the document put the mouse at the start of the document.

Using version history, i opened an earlier version - and tried to insert the table again, and add a caption - but got the same result.

I shut down word - created a new document - copied the table into that document (without keeping the source formatting) and inserted a caption. I was then able to edit the content of the table, but nothing else. The option to insert /delete rows in the table was not available after inserting a caption. This was repeatable (once the problem occurs it persists - until the machine is restarted) Clicking outside the table cells - put the mouse at the strat of the document

After restarting the machine, I have been able to to insert the table in a new test file, and add a caption - by highlighting the table and using a right mouse click. I noticed that the highlighting of the table ended when the dialogue box for the caption appeared.

Previously, the table remained highlighted, and appears to be converted into a form.

I am not familiar with 'protecting parts of the document' - but have not been able to remove the protection in corrupted files.

I agree this does not make much sense - but these are my observations.

[Phil Stunell]

Note I have been using the desktop app in office 365, with windows 10 OS

[Guessed]

I haven't seen this issue before and think perhaps there is a macro causing issues. Have you tried this after opening Word in Safe Mode?

Perhaps you should upload a sample doc where this has occurred and we can see what kind of protection has been applied.

[Phil Stunell]

The corrupted file contains confidential information - that I can't remove because of the protection issue.
I have seen the problem once before, and will try to upload a sample file that is not confidential.

[Charles Kenyon]

How to attach a screenshot or file in this forum.

I do not know that it will make a difference, but you might see what happens if you select the inserted table and use the Caption button on the References tab instead of a right-click.

[Phil Stunell]

After restarting the machine I have found:-

1) The file that became 'corrupted' is still protected
2) I do not have access to the 'styles menu' in that document - all the styles are greyed out in the ribbon
3) It is not obvious how to remove the protection without access to 'styles'

Using version history, I have recovered a earlier version of the document, and have been able to insert the table and caption after saving it as a new file.

My observations is that once the problem occurs in word - it persists (100% failure rate) until the the machine is restarted.

The problem with intermittent problems that you can't identify the cause when the fault does not occur.

Thanks for you help and interest

[Charles Kenyon]

Protection is controlled by the Restrict Editing button/dialog.
This button can be found on both the Review tab and the Developer Tab.

[Phil Stunell]

I have uploaded a file with some screen shots of what I see when working with the corrupted file (after restarting the machine)

Most of the options in the ribbon are are unavailable, and when I attempt to inspect the document word tells me that I must change the permissions first

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by Phil Stunell

I have uploaded a file with some screen shots of what I see when working with the corrupted file (after restarting the machine)

Most of the options in the ribbon are are unavailable, and when I attempt to inspect the document word tells me that I must change the permissions first

We need a Word file with the problem, not screenshots. (Screenshots may help, but not in the way the problem file would.)
Nothing is attached.
How to attach a screenshot or file in this forum.

[Phil Stunell]

I have attached a sample file that is protected - by inserting a caption

This was created using the same table of data from excel - which was copied into word, and I then inserted the caption (right click)

I created several test files, and got similar results each time.

In some case, the cells in the table appeared to be 'form fields' that could be edited, but in all cases the document became 'protected'. (It may be sensitive the formatting option chosen when copying the table?)

The problem has not recurred since the machine was restarted.

This sample file was created as a 'new document' - but the report that first exhibited the problem was created from old (office 2010) template.

My thoughts are:
1) The problem is 'in the table' copied from Excel?
But the previous occurrence in January involved images copied from google street view (did not involve excel)
2) The problems is a compatibility issue in an 'old template'?
Possible, but it does not occur in all documents, or when you start work, it seems to occur (sample of 2) when you have been working on a document for a while - and have copied and pasted a lot of stuff between files.
3) It's a 'machine resource' issue'?
Both instances have occurred when working with 'lots of data' - images and excel files, and the machine may have been running low on memory.
Shutting down programs and documents did not 'reset the machine' and once the problem has started it has a 100% failure rate.
RESTARTING the machine does appear to resolve the problem - untill next time???

[Charles Kenyon]

Using the Restrict Editing pane/dialog, I was able to turn off protection for the document. I am able to modify the table structure (column width) but not the contents.

My modified document is attached. It is still very resistant to changes.

[Guessed]

To me it appears that the Caption has been inadvertently inserted inside the link field. I can't select the table without selecting the caption and vice versa. Perhaps there is a bug with Word when using the Insert Caption on a linked table and choosing Below.

If you turn off protection via the Developer Tab but because the caption is inside the 'link', you won't be able to remove it by editing directly. I would guess that you could update the link to remove the caption (I don't have your source so I can't test that hypothesis).

See what happens if you insert your linked table and then select it and add your caption ABOVE the table. If that doesn't reproduce the problem then you can select the table and press Shift-Alt-UpArrow to move it above the caption.