Before you share an electronic copy of a Microsoft Office document with other people, you can use the Mark as Final command to make the document read-only and prevent changes to the document. When a document is marked as final, typing, editing commands, and proofing marks are disabled or turned off and the document becomes read-only. Additionally, the Status property of the document is set to Final. The Mark as Final command helps you communicate that you are sharing a completed version of a document. It also helps prevent reviewers or readers from making inadvertent changes to the document.

  Notes  

• The Mark as Final command is not a security feature. Anyone who receives an electronic copy of a document that has been marked as final can edit that document by removing Mark as Final status from the document.
• Documents that have been marked as final in a 2007 Microsoft Office system program will not be read-only if they are opened in earlier versions of Microsoft Office programs.

• Mark document as final

• Enable editing for a document that is marked as final

Mark document as final

1. Open the document that is marked as final.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button , point to Prepare, and then click Mark as Final.

   

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Enable editing for a document that is marked as final

The Mark as Final command is selected in documents that have been marked as final. If you want to edit a document that is marked as final, you can click the Mark as Final command.

You can also recognize that a document has been marked as final by looking for the Mark as Final icon in the status bar.

1. Open the document that is marked as final.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button , point to Prepare, and then click Mark as Final.

   

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