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Microsoft WORD not allowing access to any of my documents.

Bob Evans 10 Reputation points
2026-06-09T18:16:25.0666667+00:00

My Microsoft WORD is not allowing access to any of my documents. It says that I do not have permission. I logged in and out but there is no change. Yesterday I commented on a peer’s document. Could this have affected it, and how to fix the problem?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | MacOS
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Bob Evans 10 Reputation points
2026-06-11T19:16:43.08+00:00

Weird enough, things resolved themself by the next morning. I do not know how though. The next day I did contact my organization which set it up ( I planned to go to them that day to fix it) and they said that sometimes scheduled repairs can cause it. If it happens again though they recommended contacting them so they can fix it, since the problem was likely on their side.

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  1. Bob Evans 10 Reputation points
    2026-06-09T18:19:09.1566667+00:00

    AI bot wrote:

    The behavior is consistent with Word enforcing permissions on protected or restricted documents, not with adding a comment to a peer’s file. Commenting on someone else’s document does not change access to other documents.

    All documents do not open; they say

    You can't access this item

    You don't have permission to access this item.

    View technical details

    and then below it has the correlation ID and the date and time.

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  2. Dora-T 14,535 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-06-10T02:03:47.2333333+00:00

    Hi Bob Evans

    Based on the error message "You can't access this item" and "You don't have permission to access this item," this typically indicates a permissions or access-related issue. The fact that you commented on a peer’s document previously would not normally affect your access to your own files.

    To better understand your issue, could you please provide a bit more information? 

    • Are the affected documents stored in OneDrive or SharePoint?
    • Are you able to access them via a web browser (for example, OneDrive on the web)?
    • Could you please share a screenshot of the error message? If so, please send it via private message to help avoid exposing any personal or organizational information.

    If your files are stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, I recommend contacting your organization's Microsoft 365 or SharePoint administrator, as this may be related to a permissions or account access issue that would need to be checked on their side.

    For more details, you may refer to the official Microsoft article: Access Denied or You need permission errors in SharePoint Online and OneDrive

    Please understand that our initial reply may not always immediately resolve the issue. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.     

    I look forward to your update.     

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  3. AI answer

    2026-06-09T18:16:49.22+00:00

    The behavior is consistent with Word enforcing permissions on protected or restricted documents, not with adding a comment to a peer’s file. Commenting on someone else’s document does not change access to other documents.

    Use these checks and fixes:

    1. Check if documents have restricted permissions (IRM)
    • Open one of the affected documents.
    • If a yellow Message Bar appears saying the document is rights‑managed, select View Permission.
    • Review what tasks are allowed under Permissions and what is blocked under Restrictions.
    • If access is denied, the account in use does not have rights to the file, or the Office version does not support the protection policy.
    • If an error mentions the Office version, update Office to the latest version or open the file in Office for the web.
    1. Verify the account used to open the files
    • If the document is rights‑managed, ensure it is opened with the same account that was granted permission (for example, school or work account rather than a personal account).
    • If prompted to connect to a licensing server, sign in with the correct account and allow Word to download a use license.
    1. Check for document protection inside Word
    • If the status bar shows “This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked,” go to Review > Restrict Editing.
    • Use Find Next Region I Can Edit or Show All Regions I Can Edit to see whether any part of the document is editable.
    • If everything is locked, the document owner or administrator has restricted editing; request that they remove or adjust protection.
    1. Check for folder or file permissions issues
    • If the files are stored in a redirected folder (for example, a network or school folder controlled by Group Policy), the parent folder might not grant the required Read Attributes permission.
    • In that case, an administrator must set the parent folder permissions so that authenticated users have at least Traverse Folder / Execute File, List Folder / Read Data, and Read Attributes.
    1. If Word shows “Access denied” and closes
    • This combination of “Access denied” plus Word unexpectedly quitting is typically caused by the redirected-folder permission issue described above.
    • After the folder permissions are corrected by IT, reopening or saving files in Word should work normally.

    The comment made on a peer’s document is not the cause. The issue is either document‑level protection (IRM or Restrict Editing) or file/folder permissions on where the documents are stored.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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