Word does not open: The document may be read-only or encrypted

You have created documents in Word but now trying to open them you get the following message: "The document may be read-only or encrypted". Self Word does not open, you absolutely must read this article because I will tell you how to do it open a Word file not working.

Word won't open - here's how to fix

Word does not open: The document may be read-only or encrypted

The above error message means that the permissions needed to open that file are wrong. Each document has a set of permissions that are granted by the system to your user account. Windows essentially allows logins depending on the permissions your account has.



In this case the reason why Word does not open it is caused by the permissions of the folder Temp which contains all temporary files created during normal Windows activity.

When you open a Word document or any other application, files are created inside this folder to allow the file to be viewed correctly.

If your account does not have permissions to access the folder Temp, you will receive the above message: “The document may be read-only or encrypted“.

To solve the problem of Word files not opening you have to follow the path: C: UserUserAppDataLocalTemp. Right click on the folder and choose the item Property.

Now move to the menu Safety and select your username under the menu Users and groups.


In the list under the item Permissions for your account, you will find the permissions granted. In this case you will see the various items with the box checked on Nega.


Click on the button Modification and put all the check marks on it Allow. Apply and close.

Once this is done, you will have control of the folder Temp and you can safely open Word files but also those in Excel.

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