Working on a sensitive document? To prevent it from being open by an unauthorized party, you can protect your document with a password. Major office suite apps such as Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, and WPS Office come with a default feature that allows you to password-protect a document so you don’t need to install an extension to protect your sensitive document.

Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, and WPS Office are compatible with each other. A document you created with Microsoft Office can be open and edited with LibreOffice and WPS Office. And versa. Even if the document password-protected.

How to password-protect a document in Microsoft Office

To password-protect a document in Microsoft Office, open your document or create a new one. Go to the File menu and click Info then click Protect Document and select Encrypt with Password.

Enter your password and click the OK button.

After setting the password, you can save your document. You will be prompted to enter the password every time you open the document.

The password-protect feature is also available in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint.

How to password-protect a document in WPS Office

There are at least two ways to password-protect a document in WPS Office. First, you can click the Menu button and select File Information -> Encryption.

Enter your password (twice to confirm) and click the OK button.

After setting the password, you can save your document.

Alternatively, you can also set the password when you save your document. Click the arrow icon next to the Menu button and select File -> Save As.

Before you click the Save button, click the Encrypt button.

You will be prompted to enter your password. Click the OK button.

How to password-protect a document in LibreOffice

To password-protect a document in LibreOffice, simply open the document you want to protect or create a new one. Go to File -> Save As to save your document. On the Save As dialog, tick the Save with password option and click the Save button.

Enter your password twice and click the Save button.

The bottom line

Document is always important. Protecting your document with a password is a practical step to prevent it from being opened by the wrong hands. Today, most office suite apps already have a default feature that you can use to password-protect your document, including Microsoft Office, WPS Office, and LibreOffice.