How do I remove a selection lock in Excel?

The error message of modification is not permitted because your particular selected is locked flashes due to the inactivation of your MS Office application. It also occurs if you have downloaded more than one version of MS Office or someone is using your MS Office Document secretly. The complete error message says, “This modification is not allowed because the because the selection is locked.” You might face such error while accessing or editing a particular MS Office Document or folder.

To fix this selection locked issue, you have to follow these simple steps:

Check Activation of MS Office

1. In order to troubleshoot this issue, check whether your MS Office is under Activated mode or not.
2. If your Office is not activated, then you have to open any of the MS Office applications.
3. After that, you have to tap the “File” option and then hit the “Accounts” tab.
4. In case your application is not under the active mode, a message will flash out on your screen regarding Office activation.
5. Next, you have to type the specific product key in order to get your Office app activated.

Checking MS Office for Multiple Version

Firstly, you have to check whether you have installed various versions of Office editions on your device or not. In case you have installed numerous editions of it, then it becomes mandatory to remove the older ones. Sometimes, you download the trial version for any reason. It needs to be deleted from your system to troubleshoot the issue.

If you intend to delete or uninstall the older and outdated versions of Office applications, then follow these instructions here:

1. Firstly, tap two keys together: Win + R to launch the Run Dialog box.
2. Now, you have to enter “control” in the text box provided in the Run dialog box.
3. Then hit the “OK” tab.
4. After that, hit the “Program” tab located in the Control Panel section.
5. Next, tap on the “Programs and Features” option.
6. After that, choose the trial edition of MS Office.
7. Now, tap on the “Uninstall” button.
8. Edit your file once more, and search for any improvements there.
9. In case the issue still exists, then other users may be using and editing your document.
10. Now, take a copy of your particular document file, and then perform important and mandatory edits.

Modifying the Attributes of your File

The file allotment method can fix this issue of selection locked. To change the attribute of a particular file, follow these steps:

1. Firstly, shut the MS Office and your file.
2. Then, go to the drive or folder where you have stored your file.
3. After finding your desired file, right-click on it, and then choose the option “Properties.”
4. Next, hit the “Advanced” tab here.
5. Then, you will find two different file attribution options in checked form, unmark both of them:
6. The file is ready for archiving
7. Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file properties.
8. After that, hit the “OK” tab to save your modifications.
9. Next, hit the “Apply” tab.
10. Now, tap on “OK” to proceed.
11. After that, shut the properties window and then check whether the issue has been resolved or not.

Deleting File Restrictions

The users of MS Office have the option to keep the application under restriction mode to prevent other users from editing it.

In case, you wish to make restrictions to your Office app, then first you have to check whether your Office has any earlier restrictions or not.

If found, delete it instantly and then follow the offered steps:

1. Launch MS Office file having the error.

1. Next, hit the “Review” tab.

2. Then, you have to tap on “Restrict Editing.”

3. Now, you will see two check box options which are saying that:

1. Limit your formatting to the selected text,
2. Permit similar editing throughout your document.

1. Now, unmark both the above-mentioned options.

Delete Groupings

The ungrouping of files can remove the issue. Here you have to follow these steps to remove your groupings:

1. First of all, launch the error causing file.
2. Then, hit the “Developer” tab.
3. After that, tap on Group and then hit the “Ungroup” option there.

Tim Cross is from Ohio USA. Before he started writing blogs he went through various occupations such as teaching, programming and travelling. But his favorite job is writing blogs for antivirus technology for McAfee.com/Activate.

Sometimes, you might receive the message “you can’t make this change because the selection is locked” when you are trying to edit an Office document. How to get rid of the issue? In this guide developed by MiniTool Partition Wizard, you will learn about 4 feasible solutions.

• Fix 1: Disable Mark as Final Option
• Fix 2: Disable Restrict Editing
• Fix 3: Modify the Properties of the Document
• Fix 4: Activate Your Office

Microsoft Office should be the most popular and widely used office software in the world. But it is not so perfect as we expect, and plenty of issues have been reported with this tool.

Recently, some users are reporting an error message “you can’t make this change because the selection is locked” which appears at the bottom of the screen when they are trying to edit a document. And sometimes, they might get another similar message: this modification is not allowed because the selection is locked.

As the message implies, you will be unable to make changes for an Office document if you receive the error. In most cases, this error comes up in a Word document, but it might also appear in other Office document. Besides, it is also not limited to a certain Office or Windows version.

If you are facing the problem unfortunately, try restarting your Office software first. If the error message appears again, here are some solutions and you can try them one by one.

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Fix 1: Disable Mark as Final Option

If a document is marked as final by its author, it will turn to read-only and you will be restricted to make any modifications for it. To resolve the issue, you just need to disable the option.

Commonly, you will see a notification under the tool bar. Here, click the Edit Anyway button to disable the Mark as Final option temporarily. And you might need to perform the operation every time you open the document to edit.

Alternatively, you can also follow the steps below to disable the option and make the document editable.

Step 1: Open the document and go to File > Info.

Step 2: Click Protect Document in the right pane to expand the drop-down list.

Step 3: The Mark as Final option should be highlighted if it is enabled. To disable it, you just need to click it to make it not highlighted.

Fix 2: Disable Restrict Editing

Besides, it might be helpful for to enable the Developer tab and disable Restrict Editing. Some users have resolved the problem in this way, and you can feel free to have a try.

Step 1: Keep the problematic document open and go to File > Options.

Step 2: In the Word Options window, click Customize Ribbon in the left pane.

Step 3: Under the Customize the Ribbon column and check Developer option. Click OK button to save changes.

Step 4: Go back to your document, click the newly enabled Developer tab and click Restrict Editing option to disable it.

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Fix 3: Modify the Properties of the Document

If you receive “you can’t make this change because the selection is locked” while trying to editing a single element such as the title, perhaps there are some problems with the metadata of the document. in this case, you can go to modify the properties of the file.

Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Open the target document and navigate to File > Info.

Step 2: In the right pane, click Properties and click Advanced Properties from the context menu.

Step 3: Under the Summary tab, modify the displayed elements according to your need. Click OK button to save the changes.

Fix 4: Activate Your Office

If you encounter “you can’t make this change because the selection is locked” or “this modification is not allowed because the selection is locked”, it is possible that you are using the trial version of Office or your Office trial has expired.

In this case, you might need to activate your Office. To do that, you can refer to the official guide.

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About The Author

Amanda Follow us

Position: Columnist

Amanda has been working as English editor for the MiniTool team since she was graduated from university. She enjoys sharing effective solutions and her own experience to help readers fix various issues with computers, dedicated to make their tech life easier and more enjoyable.

She has published many articles, covering fields of data recovery, partition management, disk backup, and etc. In order to provide more useful tips and information, she is still committed to expand her technical knowledge.

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