Protecting Contents in LibreOffice Writer

The following is an overview of the different ways of protecting contents in LibreOffice Writer from being modified or deleted.

Protecting Sections in LibreOffice Writer

Any section of a LibreOffice Writer text document can be protected against changes, and with an optional password.

warning

Protection is not intended to be an information security protection, it is a switch to prevent accidental changes.


Turning on protection

Information to protect must be in a section. To create or select a section:

  1. If the section does not exist: Select the text, then choose menu Insert - Section... .

  2. If the section already exists: Choose menu Format - Sections... and select the section in the list Section, or right-click on the section in the Navigator and choose Edit....

To enable protection

  1. If you want to protect the contents without a password, choose the Protect check box under the Write protection.

  2. If you want the protection with a password, choose Protect and With password check boxes and click on the Password… button. Enter and confirm a password of at least five characters.

Modification of protection

Choose menu Format - Sections... and select the section in the list Section, or right-click on the section in the Navigator and choose Edit....

  1. If the protection does not have a password and you would like to use one, choose the With password checkbox, click the Password button, and enter and confirm a password of at least five characters.

  2. If the protection has a password and you want to clear it, uncheck the With password box under Write protection and enter the correct password.

  3. If the section is protected with a password and you want to change it, click on the Password button in the Edit Sections window and enter the correct password twice.

Turning off protection

Choose menu Format - Sections... and select the section in the list Section, or right-click on the section in the Navigator and choose Edit....

  1. If the protection does not have a password, uncheck the Protect box under Write protection.

  2. If the protection has a password, uncheck the Protect box under Write protection and enter the correct password.

Protecting Cells in a LibreOffice Writer Table

You can protect the contents of individual cells of tables or whole table in LibreOffice Writer from changes.

warning

Protection is not intended to be an information security protection, it is a switch to prevent accidental changes.


Turning on protection

  1. For one or several cells, place the cursor in a cell or select needed several cells. Choose the Table - Protect Cells in menu bar.

  2. For whole table, select the table, and choose the Table - Protect Cells in menu bar.

Turning off protection

note

If necessary, choose - LibreOffice Writer - Formatting Aids and select Enable cursor under the Protected Areas.


  1. Place the cursor in the cell or in the selected cells and choose the Table - Unprotect Cells in menu bar.

  2. For whole table, right-click on the table in the Navigator, and choose Table - Unprotect in the context menu or select the whole table and choose Table - Unprotect Cells in menu bar.

Contents Protection in Tables of Contents and Indexes

Tables of contents and indexes created in LibreOffice Writer, are automatically protected against accidental changes.

warning

Protection is not intended to be an information security protection, it is a switch to prevent accidental changes.


Turning on protection

  1. Right-click in the index or table of contents. Choose Edit Index... in the context menu. Choose Protected against manual changes on the Type tab.

  2. Right-click on the index or table of contents in the Navigator and choose Index - Read-only item.

Turning off protection

note

If necessary, choose - LibreOffice Writer - Formatting Aids and select Enable cursor under the Protected Areas.


  1. Right-click in the index or table of contents. Choose Edit Index... in the context menu. Uncheck Protected against manual changes on the Type tab.

  2. Right-click in the index or table of contents in the Navigator and uncheck Index - Read-only.

Protecting fields and bookmarks from changes

Choose Tools - Protect Document - Protect Fields to protect all fields against changes. Use this protection to prevent accidental changes in fields.

Choose Tools - Protect Document - Protect Bookmarks to protect all bookmarks against changes. Use this protection to prevent accidental bookmark changes.

Protection of the whole LibreOffice Writer document from changes.

You can protect the contents of LibreOffice Writer document from changes, with one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .odt, .ott.

warning

Protection is not intended to be an information security protection, it is a switch to prevent accidental changes.


To enable the protection of the whole document, go to - LibreOffice Writer - Compatibility and choose Protect form. To disable protection, uncheck it.

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