Stay calm if Word says 'Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges' when you trying to open a document file. Follow this page, you'll learn what does this error mean and how to fix the 'Word cannot open the document' error successfully. And don't worry if your Word documents are corrupted due to uncertain causes. Use Stellar file repair software to repair corrupted files efficiently.
Help! I tried to open a Word document but it told me that 'Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges'. How do I fix this issue on my computer? - from Microsoft Community
Stay calm if you have a similar error on your Windows or Mac computers. Follow this page; you'll learn how to fix this 'Windows cannot open the document' error, making your Word file openable again immediately.
The first method we suggest you try is using a Microsoft repair tool. If the Word documents cannot be opened successfully, it is a corruption issue that you may encounter.
EaseUS Fixo Document Repair allows you to scan and repair unopenable Word files immediately.
Check the fabulous repair functions of the EaseUS Word repair tool here:
Now, download this file repair tool to scan and repair corrupted Word documents efficiently.
Step 1. You can install the EaseUS Word repair tool on both Windows & macOS computers. After installation, the software will be launched automatically. Click "File Repair" > "Add Files" to select cannot open Word documents in the File Explorer window.
Step 2. To repair just one Word document, move the pointer to the target file and click "Repair." Select "Repair All" if you want to repair the whole Word document in the list.
Step 3. Choose "Save" or "Save All" to store the repaired Word files on your computer. If you have encountered Microsoft 365 can't open files on Mac, this tool can also help you a lot.
We also provide a video on quickly repairing corrupted files using EaseUS Fixo Document Repair; take a look!
Share this professional Word repair tool and the video tutorial on social media to help more users fix Word that cannot open the document error.
Here, we collected 3 practical solutions that will be able to help you fix this issue immediately:
Remember to follow the methods one by one and stop when the error is resolved. Let's start now.
Step 1. Right-click a Word file that won't open and select "Properties".
Step 2. Go to the Security tab and click "Advanced".
Step 3. Click "Add" on the next window and click "Select a principal".
Step 4. Click "Advanced" and click "Find Now".
Step 5. Select "Authenticated Users" and click "OK".
Step 6. Click "OK" to confirm, and check "Full Control", click "OK".
Step 7. Click "Apply" and "OK".
After this, restart your computer, and you can try to open the Word file again. If you still cannot open the Word document, the file may be corrupted. Go back to EaseUS Fixo Document Repair, or you can continue with Fix 2.
Step 1. Right-click the Word file that cannot open and select "Properties".
Step 2. Go to the Details tab and click "Remove Properties and Personal Information".
Step 3. Check "Create a copy with all possible properties removed" and click "OK".
After this, restart your PC and re-try to open the Word file.
If you finish Fix 1 and Fix 2 but the Word application still pops up the error message 'Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges', don't worry. You can switch the user account and try to open the document in another location.
Here are the steps:
Step 1. Copy the unopenable Word document file to an external storage device, like a USB flash drive.
Step 2. Click the Windows icon and the Users icon.
Step 3. Select to log in as administrator and type password if necessary.
Step 4. Copy the Word document to the desktop and double-click to see if you can open it.
If yes, congratulations. The Word cannot open error is resolved. If not, try to fix not opening Word documents with EaseUS Word repair software:
So how do you fix the "Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges" error on Mac? Here are three fixes that we collected from answers.microsoft.com and hope that will be helpful for you:
Let's see how to fix Word won't open error on your Mac computer now.
Step 1. Boot Mac from the recovery partition and open Terminal Utility.
Step 2. Type the following command and hit Return.
Step 3. Restart the Mac computer and try to open the Word file again.
If this fix works, congratulations. You can stop here. If not, continue trying the next fix.
Step 1. Quit all applications on your Mac computer.
Step 2. Restart the Mac computer and hold the Shift key.
Step 3. When you see the Progress Bar, release the Shift key.
Step 4. Sign in with your account and wait for the loading to complete.
Step 5. Restart Mac and retry to open the Word document.
If it works, stop here and use your Word files. If not, try the next fix.
Step 1. Click the Apple menu, select "Preferences," and click "Users & Groups".
Step 2. Click the Add button, and click "New Account" on the pop-up menu.
Step 3. Choose a type of user - "Administrator", "Standard", or "Share Only". (Administrator is recommended here.)
Step 4. Enter a username and password, and click "Create User".
Step 5. Restart your Mac and sign in to the original user account. Copy the unopenable Word file to an external storage device.
Step 6. Restart the Mac and try to open the Word file in the new User Account.
If the above 3 methods fail to solve the problem of Word won't open on Mac, please contact Microsoft Office's support team. They'll resolve your problem as soon as possible.
This post has looked at how Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges on both Windows and Mac. However, to solve this Word won't open error ASAP, it is highly recommended that you use Word repair software like EaseUS Fixo Document Repair.
You can read this FAQ part to get more info on this Word error message:
Here is a list of all possible reasons that block you from entering a Word file:
So how do I fix the Word cannot open the document access privileges error on Windows or macOS? Here is what to do when this error occurs to you:
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