"You Can't Make This Change Because the Selection Is Locked" [Resolved]

It's relatively common for office workers to encounter errors like "You can't make this change because the selection is locked" when attempting to edit Word documents, and this can cause significant trouble, especially when time is of the essence.

Don't worry. This post from Tools will provide a comprehensive guide on how to unlock the selection and regain access to your Word files. You can first read through the page content to get a basic understanding.

"You can't make this change because the selection is locked."

Fix 1: Resolve Locked Selection Due to File Corruption with Fixo File Repair Tools

If your Word files have experienced a sudden shutdown, they might become corrupted. In such cases, you'll need to repair them using software like the Microsoft Document Repair Tool or tools such as Fixo Document Repair.

With the assistance of this dependable software, opening and repairing Word files becomes a straightforward task. Let's explore the robust features of this tool by examining some use cases:

• ♀Great document saver when encountering error messages such as document is either deleted or currently inaccessible, or when Word encounters an error that prevents it from functioning properly.
• Excellent Word files assistant when Word fails to open, Word cannot open the document: the user lacks access privileges, and so on.

You can click the button to download the free tool Fixo Document Repair and follow the instructions below to salvage your problematic Word files:

Step 1. Download and install Fixo on your PC or laptop. Select "File Repair" to fix corrupted Office files, including Word, Excel, PDF, and others. Click "Add Files" to choose the corrupted documents.

Step 2. To repair multiple files at once, click the "Repair All" button. If you wish to repair a single document, hover your pointer over the target file and select "Repair." You can also preview the documents by clicking the eye icon.

Step 3. Click "Save" to save the selected document. Choose "Save All" to save all the repaired files. Select "View Repaired" to locate the repaired folder.

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Solution 2: Activate Office Suite to Resolve 'Cannot Make Changes Because the Selection Is Locked'

如果问题仍然存在，你可以尝试检查是否是Microsoft Office导致的问题。首先，你可以按照此方法激活你的Office来修复《Microsoft Word已停止工作》的问题：

Step 1. Open Microsoft Word on your computer. Navigate to "File" > "Account."

Step 2. Find and click on "Activate Product".

Step 3. When the new window appears, enter your credentials and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the activation process.

You can restart Microsoft Word and check if you're able to make changes.

Fix 3: Disable the "Mark as Final" Option to Unlock Selection To translate the given text into English, I would simply present the translation without any changes to the format: Fix 3: Disable the "Mark as Final" Option to Unlock the Selection

One of the main reasons you can't edit Word files is that the document becomes read-only, as the author has marked it as final. Disabling certain Word options might fix this issue. To resolve the problem where Microsoft Word won't open, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open your Word documents and go to "File" > "Info".

Step 2. Click "Protect Document" from the right panel to unfold the drop-down menu.

Step 3. If the Mark as Final option is already enabled, you will see it highlighted. Simply click on it to disable it.

Fix 4: Disable Restrict Editing and Enable Design Mode to Resolve the 'Selection Is Locked' Error

The "You can't make this change because the selection is locked" error message might also appear when you've intentionally or accidentally enabled the Restrict Editing option. Here's how to enable the Developer tab and disable Restrict Editing: 1. Click the "File" tab in the upper-left corner of the Excel window. 2. From the left sidebar, choose "Options" to open the Excel Options dialog box. 3. In the Excel Options dialog, navigate to the left pane and click on "Customize Ribbon." 4. In the right pane, locate the "Main Tabs" section, and check the box next to "Developer" if it's not already checked. This will add the Developer tab to your Excel ribbon. 5. Click "OK" to save the changes and close the dialog box. 6. Now, go back to your workbook and locate the "Developer" tab in the ribbon. 7. Under the Developer tab, click on the "Protect Sheet" button, and then select "Restrict Formatting and Editing" from the dropdown menu. 8. In the "Restrict Formatting and Editing" pane that appears, click on the "Stop Protection" button. A dialog box may ask for a password if one was set; enter it if necessary. 9. Click "OK" to remove the restrictions and unlock the selection. After following these steps, the "You can't make this change because the selection is locked" error should no longer appear, and you'll be able to edit your content freely.

Step 1. Open the Word document with the locked selection. Navigate to "Review" and find "Restrict Editing" under the "Protect" section.

Step 2. In the "Restrict Editing" panel, click on "Stop Protection".

Step 3. If the document is encrypted, enter the password in the "Unprotect Document" box and press Enter.

Click on "Stop Protection"

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Fix 5: Unlock the Locked Selection by Modifying the Document Properties

If you're editing titles or some other single elements and encounter this locked selection that prevents you from making changes, it's possible that your metadata might be corrupted or missing. You can attempt to modify the properties of your document.

Step 1. Open your problematic Word file and go to "File" > "Info."

Step 2. Move to the right panel and click on "Properties." From the drop-down menu, select "Advanced Properties."

Step 3. Customize the displayed element as desired under the Summary tab. When finished, click "OK" to save the modifications.

FAQs on "You Can't Make This Change because the Selection Is Locked"

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding this file error message. Read through them one by one to address your concerns.

1. What should you do if you can't make this change because the selection is locked?

You can attempt the five solutions as follows:

• Activate Office suite
• Turn off the Mark as Final option
• Disable Restrict Editing and enable design selection
• Repair corrupted Word documents using Fixo Document Repair tool
• Modify Document Properties

2. Why does Microsoft Word say it's locked?

It's possible that your files are being shared, and another user is editing them simultaneously while you open them. However, it's also likely that you had already opened the file in the background, and the unexpected closure of your application led to corruption.

3. How do I remove a locked selection in Word?

You can simply try these three methods: disabling restricted editing, turning off the "Mark as Final" feature, and removing Word editing restrictions using PassFab for Word.

Closure

In this post, we've explored five efficient methods to resolve the error message: "You can't make this change because the selection is locked." These include disabling the Mark as Final feature, restricting editing, activating the Office Suite, and modifying the Properties of your Word document. However, if your Word files are corrupted, it's advisable to employ file repair software like Fixo Document Repair from the best file repair tools. Give it a try now!