6 Free Ways to Lock PowerPoint from Editing

Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most useful presentation software with features designed to help users create highly effective presentations. PowerPoint is used in various fields and can hold information that is both important and sensitive. As such, locking a PowerPoint presentation can become a necessity. You may need to protect the whole presentation from editing to prevent accidental changes that may interfere with the presentation or you may just want to lock individual slide with crucial information from being edited.

Understanding how to lock PowerPoint from editing can therefore be one of the most important skills to have as you will be able to protect the document from exploitation from unauthorized users. In this article, we are going to share with you various ways to lock a PowerPoint presentation.

Part 1: Lock PowerPoint from Editing-Whole File

If you have to share your PowerPoint presentation to other people, it is important that you lock the PowerPoint so that they can view the presentation but unable to edit it. Read below to know the detailed information.

1. Mark as Final

This method allows you to restrict editing on the PowerPoint document, but it will not prevent someone from opening the document. Here's how to do it;

Step 1: Open the PowerPoint Presentation you would like to lock or create a new presentation.

Step 2: Once you have completed working on the presentation, click on "Info", then select "Protect Presentation" and click on "Mark as Final".

Step 3: You should see a notification that the presentation has been marked as final. Click "OK" to close the notification. Save the changes and when you open the document again, you'll see a message at the top saying it is "Marked as Final".

Note

This is not the most secure way to lock PowerPoint from editing since someone can just click on "Edit Anyway" to make it editable again.

2. Add Digital Signature

A digital signature is more commonly known as a digital ID. It can help validate your identity, and it can also be used to sign important documents including PowerPoint presentations. Below are the steps to add a digital signature to lock your PowerPoint document from editing.

Step 1: Select"File" option. From the file menu, click "Info".

Step 2: Select Protect Presentation option. From Protect Presentation menu, click "Add a Digital Signature".

Step 3: In the Sign dialog, please enter the purpose in the "Purpose for signing this document"box.

Step 4: Click "Sign". Now your PowerPoint Presentation is locked with a signature.

3. Save as PDF or PPSX

Since it is very hard to edit PDF or PPSX files, so you can lock a presentation by save it as a PDF or PPSX file. Here's how to do it;

Step 1: Open the presentation and then click on "File > Save As".

Step 2: Select the location to save the file and in the "Save as Type" dropdown menu, choose either PDF or PPSX.

This is a great way to share the PowerPoint without having to worry that the document will be edited.

4. Set Password to Modify

If you want a more secure way to lock PowerPoint from editing, the best way to do it is to set a modify password. After setting, anyone without the password will be unable to edit the presentation. Follow these simple steps to do it;

Step 1: Open the PowerPoint presentation you would like to protect and then click on "File > Save As".

Step 2: Select a location to save the file and then click on "Tools > General Options" in the Save As dialogue box.

Step 3: Enter a password in the "Password to modify" box and then click "OK".

Step 4: Go back to the "Save As" dialogue box and then click "Save" to finish. The next time you open the presentation, you will be required to enter a password to modify or open read-only file.

5. Lock PowerPoint from Editing on Mac

You can lock a PowerPoint presentation by using Finder on Mac so that others can only read it, but not edit or change it.

Step 1: Open the Finder and choose the PowerPoint presentation you want to lock.

Step 2: Right-click the presentation and then click "Get Info".

Step 3: Under "General", select the "Locked" check box.

Note

Before you share the PowerPoint presentation, please remember that people who have write privileges can clear the locked status.

Part 2: Lock PowerPoint from Editing-Individual Slide

When it comes to lock PowerPoint presentation, what comes to our minds may be lock the whole PowerPoint presentation. However, we found that there are some questions like "how to lock slides in PowerPoint" or "how to lock individual slide". So, is it possible to lock only one individual slide from editing in PowerPoint?

The answer is positive. You can save the individual slide as a graphic image to lock it from being edited.

Step 1: Click "Save & Send" option from the "File" option.

Step 2: Select "Change File Type" option from the menu.

Step 3: Choose the image type you like and then click "Save as" tab. In this step, you can choose to save every slide as image or only save the current slide as a image.

Part 3: Useful Tips to Unlock PowerPoint for Editing without Password

So what if you receive a PowerPoint presentation that needs to be edited while it is protected in one of the ways mentioned above? Or what if you have a protected PowerPoint file whose password you have forgotten? In both these cases, your safest bet would be to use a password recovery tool that can help you recover the password or remove restrictions from the document. One of the best tools for the job is Passper for PowerPoint. Designed specifically to help you remove the password on a protected PowerPoint presentation, Passper for PowerPoint has one of the highest password recovery rates and also helps you easily remove restrictions on the program.
The following are some of the features that make Passper for PowerPoint so effective:

• Unlock PowerPoint Editing Passwords: Passper for PowerPoint allows you to remove editing restrictions on any presentation without affecting the data on it.

• Remove All Restrictions: You can use it to remove all forms of restrictions on the file including removing read-only restrictions to allow you to edit, copy, print.

• Easy and Fast to Use: The whole process of recovering the password is very easy and straightforward. You can even remove any restrictions within seconds in one single-click.

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If you are prevented from editing the PowerPoint document, Passper for PowerPoint can make it easy for you to remove these restrictions and edit the document. Here's how to do it;

Step 1: Open Passper for PowerPoint on your computer and then choose "Remove Restrictions".

Step 2: Import the encrypted file into the program and then click on "Remove". Passper will immediately begin removing all restrictions on the document.

Once the process is complete, you should see a notification that the restrictions have been removed. When you open the PowerPoint presentation, you should be able to access it and edit it easily.

Tips

Passper for PowerPoint not only can help you remove all restrictions, but also can help you recover the password to open the presentation. Next time, if you forgot the password to open or received a presentation with protection, Passper for PowerPoint can help you out the delimma.

Conclusion

Locking a PowerPoint presentation can be a great way to prevent sensitive information from becoming public and also from preventing accidental editing. As we have seen in the course of this article, the process is very easy and can be done at different levels depending on how you want the PowerPoint presentation to be protected. Yet, it can be very easy to lose or forget the password. In this case, you would be unable to access the data on the document.

Fortunately, there is a tool like Passper for PowerPoint that can be used to recover the password without affecting the data on the presentation. Passper for PowerPoint is invaluable in the event that you have lost the opening or modifying password on your PowerPoint presentation and you need to make changes to it.

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