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	"title": "What is Protected View? - Microsoft Support",
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	"plain_text": "What is Protected View? - Microsoft Support\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 16:42:14 UTC\r\nFiles from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations can contain viruses, worms, or other kinds of\r\nmalware that can harm your computer. To help protect your computer, files from these potentially unsafe locations\r\nare opened as read only or in Protected View. By using Protected View, you can read a file, see its contents and\r\nenable editing while reducing the risks.\r\nNote: If your machine has Application Guard for Microsoft 365 enabled, documents that previously opened in\r\nProtected View will now open in Application Guard for Microsoft 365.\r\nIncluded in this article\r\nWhy is my file opening in Protected View?\r\nHow do I exit Protected View so that I can edit, save, or print?\r\nWhy can't I exit Protected View?\r\nA problem was detected with my file\r\nI want to change my Protected View settings\r\nI want to revoke trust from a document/documents that I've previously trusted to not open in Protected View\r\nProtected View Trust Center settings explained\r\nWhat happens to add-ins in Protected View?\r\nWhat happens to cloud fonts in Protected View?\r\nHow do I use Protected View with a screen reader?\r\nWhy is my file opening in Protected View?\r\nProtected View is a read-only mode where most editing functions are disabled. There are several reasons why a\r\nfile opens in Protected View:\r\nThe file was opened from an Internet location     - When you see the message in Protected View that\r\nsays \"Be careful - files from the Internet can contain viruses. Unless you need to edit, it's safer to stay in\r\nProtected View.\", the file is being opened from the Internet. Files from the Internet can have viruses and\r\nother harmful content embedded in them. We recommend you only edit the document if you trust its\r\ncontents.\r\nProtected View for document from internet\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 1 of 6\n\nThe file was received as an Outlook attachment and your computer policy has defined the sender as\r\nunsafe   - When you see the message in Protected View that says \"Be careful - email attachments can\r\ncontain viruses. Unless you need to edit, it's safer to stay in Protected View.\", the file was received from a\r\npotentially unsafe sender. We recommend you only edit the document if you trust its contents.\r\nProtected View for untrusted email attachments\r\nThe file was opened from an unsafe location    - When you see the message in Protected View that says\r\n\"This file was opened from a potentially unsafe location. Click for more details.\", the file was opened\r\nfrom a folder that is unsafe. An example of an unsafe location is your Temporary Internet Files folder. We\r\nrecommend you only edit the document if you trust its contents.\r\nProtected View from unsafe location\r\nThe file is blocked by File Block    - The following images are examples. Learn more about File Block\r\nProtected View for files blocked by File Block and when editing is not allowed\r\nEditing isn’t allowed.\r\nProtected View for documents blocked by File Block and editing is allowed\r\nEditing is allowed, but not recommended unless you completely trust its contents.\r\nFile validation failure   - When you see a message in Protected View that says \"Microsoft 365 has\r\ndetected a problem with this file. Editing it may harm your computer. Click for more details.\", the file\r\ndidn’t pass file validation. File validation scans file for security problems that can result from changes in\r\nthe file structure.\r\nProtected View for documents failing Office File Validation\r\nThe file was opened in Protected View by using the Open in Protected View option   - When you see\r\nthe message in Protected View that says \"This file was opened in Protected View. Click for more\r\ndetails.\", you chose to open the file in Protected View. This can be done by using the Open in Protected\r\nView option:\r\n1. Select File \u003e Open.\r\n2. On the Open dialog box, select the arrow next to the Open button.\r\n3. From the list, select Open in Protected View.\r\nProtected View for documents that are forced to open in Protected View by the user\r\nThe file was opened from someone else's OneDrive storage- When you see the message in Protected\r\nView that says \"Be careful - This file is from someone else's OneDrive. Unless you trust this person and\r\nwant to continue collaborating with them, it is safer to stay in Protected View.\", you opened a document\r\nfrom a OneDrive folder other than your own, for example, when someone has shared a file in OneDrive\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 2 of 6\n\nwith you. Such files may be untrusted and could beused to cause harm to your computer. We recommend\r\nyou trust documents only if you trust the person to whom this OneDrive location belongs.\r\nNotes: \r\nThis functionality is currently only available in Microsoft 365 clients.\r\nOnce you click \"Trust Documents From This Person\" all subsequent documents shared from this\r\nOneDrive location will no longer open in Protected View.\r\nProtected View for documents opened from someone else's OneDrive storage\r\nImportant: Administrators can customize the list of potentially unsafe locations to include additional folders they\r\nalso consider unsafe.\r\nHow do I exit Protected View so that I can edit, save, or print?\r\nIf you must read the file, and don't have to edit it, you can remain in Protected View. If you know the file is from a\r\ntrustworthy source, and you want to edit, save, or print the file, you can exit Protected View. After you leave\r\nProtected View, you've effectively remove read only, and the file becomes a trusted document.\r\nExit Protected View and edit when the yellow Message Bar appears\r\nOn the Message Bar, select Enable Editing.\r\nExit Protected View and edit when the red Message Bar appears\r\n1. Select File \u003e Edit Anyway.\r\nCaution: We recommend you only do this if the file's source and content are trusted by you.\r\nWhy can't I exit Protected View?\r\nIf you can’t exit Protected View, it's possible that your systems administrator has rules established that prevent\r\nleaving Protected View. Speak to your administrator to determine whether such rules have been made.\r\nA problem was detected with my file\r\nMicrosoft 365 found a problem with your file and it might be a security risk. Opening the file in Protected View\r\nhelps protect your computer and we recommend that you edit the file only if you trust the person who sent it to\r\nyou, and if the file doesn’t look suspicious.\r\nWhy do I see this message?\r\nThis message can appear for a malicious file, which was created by a hacker to infect your computer with a virus\r\nor steal important information. This message means that editing the file could be dangerous. Sometimes the\r\nmessage appears for files that are damaged, for example:\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 3 of 6\n\nThe disk where the file is stored could be worn out or broken.\r\nThe file was created or edited with a program that has a problem.\r\nAn unexpected error occurred while copying the file to your computer, which can be caused by a problem\r\nwith your Internet connection.\r\nThere could be a problem with how Microsoft 365 looks for problems in files. We work to make it better,\r\nbut it’s not perfect.\r\nCan I edit the file?\r\nIf the file is from someone you know and trust, you can choose to edit it. But we recommend that you avoid\r\nediting a file that seems suspicious. For example:\r\nThe file came from someone you don’t know or trust.\r\nYou weren’t expecting to receive the file or it doesn't seem like the kind of file that person would send you.\r\nThe content of the file seems unusual, for example, it appears to be a bill for something you never bought,\r\nor it’s causing your computer to display errors.\r\nIf the file seems suspicious, close the file and delete it from your computer. We recommend you don’t edit it. To\r\nease suspicion, you can call or email the person who sent you the file to confirm.\r\nThe following image is an example of the Edit Anyway button in the Microsoft 365 Backstage view.\r\nProtected View Office File Validation Failure Backstage\r\nWhat type of files cause file-validation errors?\r\nWord 97-2003 files (.doc, .dot)\r\nExcel 97-2003 files (.xls, .xla, .xlt, .xlm, .xlb, .xlt)\r\nPowerPoint 97-2003 files (.ppt, .pot., pps, .ppa)\r\nI want to change my Protected View settings\r\nWe advise speaking with your administrator before you make changes to your Protected View settings.\r\n1. Select File \u003e Options.\r\n2. Select Trust Center \u003e Trust Center Settings \u003e Protected View.\r\n3. Make selections that you want.\r\nTrust Center Protected View settings\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 4 of 6\n\nProtected View Trust Center settings explained\r\nEnable Protected View for files originating from the Internet    - The Internet is considered an unsafe\r\nlocation because of its many opportunities for malicious intent.\r\nEnable Protected View for files that are located in potentially unsafe locations    - This refers to folders\r\non your computer or network that are considered unsafe, such as the Temporary Internet folder or other\r\nfolders assigned by your administrator.\r\nEnable Protected View for Outlook attachments    - Attachments in emails can come from unreliable or\r\nunknown sources.\r\nAlways open untrusted Text-Based files (.csv, .dif and .sylk)  in protected view   -    If this Excel-specific setting is enabled, text-based files opened from an untrusted location are always opened in\r\nProtected View. If you disable or don’t configure this setting, text-based files opened from an untrusted\r\nlocation are not opened in Protected View.  \r\nThis setting can also be configured by an administrator as a policy via Group Policy or the Microsoft 365\r\ncloud policy service. \r\nNote: This policy setting only applies to Microsoft 365 products.\r\nAlways open untrusted Database files (.dbf) in protected view - If this Excel-specific setting is enabled,\r\ndatabase files opened from an untrusted location are always opened in Protected View. If you disable or\r\ndon’t configure this setting, database files opened from an untrusted location are not opened in Protected\r\nView.  \r\nThis setting can also be configured by an administrator as a policy via Group Policy or the Microsoft 365\r\ncloud policy service. \r\nNote: This policy setting only applies to Microsoft 365 products.\r\nI want to revoke trust from a document/documents that I've previously trusted to\r\nnot open in Protected View\r\nIf you previously trusted a document or documents to open outside of Protected View by either (1)\r\nselecting Enable Editing or Trust Documents From This Person in the message bar or (2) selecting on Edit\r\nAnyway when the file fails validation, please refer to guidance under Trusted documents for removing this trust\r\ndecision and making such documents re-open in Protected View.\r\nWhat happens to add-ins in Protected View?\r\nAdd-ins may run when a file opens in Protected View, but may not function as expected. If your add-ins aren’t\r\nrunning correctly, contact the add-in's author. An updated version, which is compatible with Protected View, may\r\nbe needed.\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 5 of 6\n\nWhat happens to cloud fonts in Protected View?\r\nIt's possible the person who sent you the document used a cloud font, which is a font that doesn't ship with\r\nWindows or Microsoft 365 but which must be downloaded from the Internet the first time it's used. If so, and it's a\r\nfont you don't already have installed, that font won't download while you're in Protected View. Word will try to\r\nsubstitute another font that will hopefully look okay. If you're confident that the document is safe, and want to see\r\nit the way the author intended, you'll need to enable editing so that Word can download and install the correct font.\r\nNote: If Word is unable to find any compatible fonts to substitute you might see black boxes where the text should\r\nbe. Enabling editing so the correct font can download should fix the problem.\r\nHow do I use Protected View with a screen reader?\r\nWhen you are in protected view, editing is locked, so you can't cursor around the document as expected. However,\r\nif you need to navigate through a document in Protected View with a screen reader, you can press F7 to turn on\r\ncaret browsing. This action should allow you to navigate through the text without being in edit mode.\r\nSee Also\r\nOpen a document after a file corruption error\r\nCheck file compatibility with earlier versions\r\nAdd or remove protection in your document, workbook, or presentation\r\nSource: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nhttps://support.office.com/en-us/article/What-is-Protected-View-d6f09ac7-e6b9-4495-8e43-2bbcdbcb6653\r\nPage 6 of 6",
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	"sources": [
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