Although a document is not editable while in “protected view”, any other restrictions imposed on the document are still imposed whether the document is in “protected view” or not. This is entirely independent of a document opening in “protected view”.

Microsoft also uses the term “protect document” when applying password protection or editing restrictions to a file. While in “protected view”, the file is not considered a “trusted document”. Macros could be embedded in a file and these will not run while in protected view. By default, Microsoft ensures that when you open an MS Word®, Excel®, or PowerPoint® document that originated from an unsafe sender, an untrusted folder, or from the internet, it will automatically open in “protected view” so that you can view the contents without it causing harm to your computer. However, the 'mark of the web' (ie right-click the file, Properties > General and tick 'Unblock') had been removed long ago.Malicious files that can cause harm to your computer are often delivered through a downloaded file from the web or as an email attachment. I wonder if MS has found another way to try and stop macro-enabled files (that have been downloaded / emailed) from running?!Īs an aside, the offending AddIn had been downloaded over the internet. However, the 'mark of the web' (ie right-click the file, Properties > General and tick 'Unblock') had been removed long ago. But I know this isn't gonna be the case for every AddIn for everyone.Īs an aside, the offending AddIn had been downloaded over the internet.

If you can identify a specific AddIn (or I guess could be multiple AddIns) and opt not to automatically load it/them when Excel starts then I think this is likely to be a better solution than disabling Protected View (no security risk). In my case, I wasn't really using the offending AddIn so I have left it that it does not load automatically when Excel starts and so I now do not get the message. I went through the list of AddIns (in Excel 365, see: File > Options > Add-ins > Manage > Excel Add-ins > Go) and unticked/unchecked each one individually to find the offending AddIn. In my case, the offending file that causes the message to appear when Excel starts is an AddIn that is being automatically loaded when Excel starts. The problem may be related to an update from Microsoft as it is being reported by users on other sites.

Protected view excel