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New Outlook attachment Viewing warning hides the way out

The new Viewing menu option in Word has mislead people into thinking they can’t edit documents sent to them. Really, nothing has changed except a poorly worded Microsoft message that hides the important button underneath.

Opening a Word attachment from the latest Outlook 365, starts Word 365 with this notice. It’s part of the Edit, Review, Viewing menu that’s been recently introduced.

“You can only view this document. You do not have permissions to edit it”.

That message is strictly true but hides the simple way to allow editing. Both the positioning and the wording should have been better.

Just click anywhere in the document to get rid of the “Viewing” message to see the “Enable Editing” button hiding underneath.

“Enable Editing” is the way out of “Protected View” that’s been in Microsoft Office for some years now. Protected View is a read-only, no macro mode that’s the default for any Outlook attachments opened in Office apps.  It’s your last line of defense against hacked or infected documents.

Choose “Enable Editing” for documents and all three options: Editing, Reviewing and Viewing become available.

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