- One of the common error messages is 'doesn’t allow editing on a Mac' if they have previously had a different version of Microsoft Office installed on the computer. Follow the below instructions from the Microsoft Website to uninstall/reinstall Office for Mac Troubleshoot Office for Mac issues by completely uninstalling before you reinstall.
- Recently, I have needed to use a shared work computer which happens to be a Mac and when I open Office documents there is a yellow bar across the top which says. 'Your account doesn't allow editing on a Mac. To learn more, contact your admin about your Office plan.' I am the admin and I can't figure out why this isn't working!
Thank you for the A2A, Mohamed Ghrebi. Can Microsoft Word edit PDF files? Being the EXPERT that I am in both Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat, my first thoughts were, "Of course not." But before I stuck my proverbial foot in my mouth, I thought. Microsoft won't allow Windows 11 on many older Surface devices. Any Surface device that's older than three years may be in danger of not being able to upgrade to Windows 11. Blame Microsoft's new.
When I create a new Contact in Outlook, I get the traditional Contact form which I also got in previous versions of Outlook. However, once I’ve saved an closed this form, I can’t seem to get back to it anymore.
When I double click on a contact in the Contacts folder, it opens a contact card which only list a few of the details which I can edit and a Notes section.
I get a similar contact dialog when I use the Search People box on the Ribbon. Annoyingly this contact dialog automatically goes away when I click somewhere else in Outlook.
How can I get back to the full contact editing form and have it stay open?
One of the major changes in Outlook 2013, and maintained in Outlook 2016, is the Contacts section which has been renamed to “People” now.
While it’s functionality has been vastly improved, it takes a bit of getting used to and understand what it is doing.
People View, Contact Cards and Link Contacts
In the People module, you are also using the People View by default. This is a “clever” view which can combine contacts from multiple sources to a single contact.
For instance, if you have 2 mail accounts configured and a contact exists in the Contacts folder of both accounts, the details of these 2 separate contacts are merged on a single Contact Card.
Note: This is only a merged view of the contact; it doesn’t actually change any contact details!
If you have added any Social Network Accounts to Outlook, then contact details from these sources will also be added to the Contact Card of this contact. Updates which this contact posts to any of the Social Network account that you are connected to will show in the What’s New section of the Contact Card.
View Source
So in short: The new Contact Card contains all the information that you have for a specific contact, regardless where it is stored.
To still get back to the full contact form, which you also get when you create a new contact, you need to click on any of the sources that are listed in the “View Source” section of the Contact Card or the Reading Pane of the People module.
Clicking on the blue “Outlook (Contacts, …)” link in the View Source will open the full Outlook Contact Editing Form for this contact in the Contacts folder or any other folder specified between the parenthesis. Clicking on the LinkedIn or Facebook link will take you to their respective on-line profile. If it only says Outlook, it will take you to the contact on the Outlook.com website.
Note: When you double click on a contact in the People module, it will display a limited Contact Editing form which does not allow you to open the full contact editing as it doesn’t have the View Source section.
Always open the full Contact editing form from Contacts folder
If you do not like the new People view and how it links your contacts and opens up a limited contact editing form, it is really able to disable it: Change your view to any other view.
Only the People view combines duplicate contacts into one.
Leave the Contact Card open from Search People
To prevent a Contact Card opened from the Search People box from closing when you click anywhere else, you must click the Pin icon in the top right corner.
To close it, either click on the Close icon or press the Pin icon again and click anywhere else to have it being closed automatically.
Always open the full Contact editing form from People Search
To always open the full Contact editing form when clicking on a search result from the People Search, you can apply the following Registry fix.
Key Outlook 2013: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice15.0CommonContactcard
Key Outlook 2016:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0CommonContactcard
Value name: turnonlegacygaldialog
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
As this value probably doesn’t exist in your Registry yet, you’ll need to create it first. If you are not really into editing the Registry yourself, you can also download this zip file. It contains a file to add the Registry value and to remove it again.
Microsoft Word is the widely used Word processor across the globe. It is the simplest yet magical application, offers abundant features. People are using this Word program from more than 3 decades and even now it stands the best in the race.
However, a common issue regarding this well-known Word processing tool left several users in the high and dry situation.
“I can’t edit my Word document!” “Why can’t I edit my Word document?”- it is the most frequently asked question by MS Word users across various online forum discussions.
How To Allow Editing On A Mac
So, if you are also facing the same problem then, here are a few simple tricks to tackle the issue can’t edit Word document.
Can’t Edit Word Document? Here is How to Fix…
Step 1: Move the Word Document
If, the Word file which you are unable to edit is saved on any removable storage device, then copy the document to your computer’s hard drive and try to edit.
Make sure Office program is activated successfully on your computer. And, if you are using a trial version, ensure it is not expired.
Step 2: Enable Word File
- Right click on the Word document which you can’t edit
- Click on Properties and uncheck Read-only
- Switch to Security tab and check file usage rights is given in Group or usernames
- Also verify, each control is marked as Allow under Permissions
- Apply changes you made and hit OK
You might even encounter Word cannot complete the save due to file permission error if full control is not accessed to your Word document.
Step 3: Remove Document Protection
- Open the Word document that you can’t edit and go to File menu
- Click Options, select Customize Ribbon and Developer
- Select Protect/Document Protection
- Check both Block Authors and Restrict Editing
- Disable Restrict Editing and remove blocked authors
- When prompted, type in the password and hit OK
In Word 2016 you can find Restrict Editing and Block Authors options under Review (top panel)-> Protect tab.
Note: In case, your Word file is not responding while working or it fails to open in MS Word program then seek Yodot DOC Repair help or go through the link to solve the issue Word file not responding in a few easy steps.
Step 4: Disable Protected View
Word program gives the user an option to open Word documents that are saved in an unsafe location or received from internet/as Outlook attachment in the Read-only mode. This is to safeguard your system from unsafe entities or malicious scripts.
So, if you don’t want the Word document delivered from Outlook/internet to open in read-only mode then follow these steps.
In Word 2016/2013/2010:
Go to File -> Options -> Trust Centre -> Trust Centre Settings -> Protected View -> uncheck all options and hit OK
In Word 2007:
Select Review from top panel -> Protect Document -> Protect -> Restrict Formatting and Editing -> Stop Protection
In Word 2003:
Tools -> Unprotect
Step 5: Check Word File is Not in Use by Another User
In case, your Word file is saved on a network drive (shared network) and at the same time some other user is working on it then you cannot edit that document. It will open in Read-Only mode.
If so, then you can try below steps.
Does Not Allow Editing On A Mac
- Save all your work and open files
- Close all running programs and press CTRL, ALT and Delete Keys together
- In Task Manager, select exe and click End Process under Processes tab
- Hit Yes; if it shows the program is not responding then click the End Now button
- Exit Task Manager, navigate to the folder where your Word file (read-only file) is saved and delete a file with the name like ~$cument.doc
- Open Word program, click No and open the Word file that you were unable to edit
Why Doesnt Microsoft Allow Editing On A Pdf
I hope the above solutions can solve your problem “can’t edit my Word document”. If you have found any other technique to fix this issue, feel free to drop your solutions in the below comment box.