Two Word 2010 security features offer protection, flexibility, and peace of mind. One is new to Word 2010, the other is enhanced, but newly situation for convenience.
Word 2010 offers two security features that you should be familiar with: protected view and restrict editing. Protected view is a new in-your-face feature that you're probably already familiar with it, even if you don't want to be! Restrict editing is a useful tool that restricts what users can change. It's part of Word's Protect Document feature, but you can access it via the Ribbon instead of going to the Backstage.
Protected view This feature is actually an Office 2010 feature that protects systems from infected files. If you download a file from the Internet or Word deems the file as potentially harmful, Word will open the file in protected view.
- Click the File tab and choose Options (under Help) in the left pane.
- Select Trust Center in the left pane.
- Click Trust Center Settings in the Microsoft Word Trust Center.
- Select Protected View in the left pane.
- Uncheck the protected view options. You can disable all three or just one.
- Click OK twice.
TechRepublic's Microsoft Office Suite newsletter, delivered every Wednesday, is designed to help your users get the most from Word, Excel, and Access. Automatically sign up today!Restrict editing This feature isn't new, but it is enhanced. In addition, you might not recognize it for what it is at first. It's part of Word's Protect Document feature. On the Review tab, click Restrict Editing in the Protect group.

- Allow users limited formatting choices by restricting the styles they can change.
- Enable Track Changes automatically.
- Limit users to form fields.
- Limit users to enter only comments.
- Allow no changes whatsoever.
- Grant special access to specific users.