read only files saved to desk top on mac

Question

I have a word 365 acct via my college They changed domains and the files saved to my desk top on my mac under the older word version changed to read only. I can only edit if I send as an email attachment to the college email

Answer 1

Hi @Skari,

Good day. Thank you for reaching out, and I appreciate you sharing the details of your situation. 

Just a quick note before we continue: this is a user-to-user community forum, so I don’t have access to your Microsoft 365 tenant, your account, or your device to make changes directly. However, I’m here to support you the best I can within these constraints, by providing clear next steps, sharing applicable resources, and directing you to the appropriate support channels.  

Based on what you described, this issue may be related to the recent domain change by your college. Word on your Mac may still have saved sign-in, license, or permission information from the older college account/domain. Because of this, Word may not be able to properly verify your editing access and may open the files saved on your Desktop in read-only mode. 

The fact that you are able to edit the file after sending it as an email attachment suggests that the file itself is likely not damaged. Instead, sending it through email may be creating a new copy of the file under your current college account, allowing Word to recognize your permission to edit it. 

Here are some steps you can try: 

1/ Sign out of Microsoft Office and close all Office apps 

• Open Microsoft Word. 
• Click your profile/account icon, usually located in the top-right corner. 
• Sign out of all Microsoft accounts currently signed in. 
• After signing out, completely close all Microsoft Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneDrive if they are open. 
• Make sure the apps are fully quit, not just minimized. 

2/ Remove old Microsoft/Office credentials from Keychain Access 

• On your Mac, open Keychain Access. You can find it by pressing Command + Space, then typing Keychain Access. 
• In the search bar, search for the following one at a time: 
  • Microsoft 
  • Office 
  • Your old college email address or old school domain 
• Review the results and delete any outdated Microsoft or Office credentials connected to the previous college domain. 
• This helps remove saved sign-in information that may be causing Word to still recognize the old account. 

3/ Restart your Mac and sign back in with the current college account 

• Restart your Mac after clearing the old credentials. 
• Once restarted, open Microsoft Word again. 
• Sign in using your current college Microsoft 365 email address with the new domain. 
• If prompted, allow Word to activate or verify the Microsoft 365 license. 

4/ Check OneDrive if your Desktop is being synced 

• If your Desktop files are backed up or synced through OneDrive, open OneDrive on your Mac. 
• Confirm that OneDrive is signed in with your current college account, not the old domain account. 
• If it is still connected to the old account, sign out and sign back in using the current college Microsoft 365 account. 
• This is important because files saved on the Desktop may still be linked to the old OneDrive permissions. 

Then, test the affected files again: 

• Open one of the Word files from your Desktop and check whether it still opens as read-only. 
• If it still opens in read-only mode, try copying the file to another local folder, such as Documents, then open the copied version. 
• You can also try using Save As to save a new copy of the document under a slightly different name, then check if the new copy can be edited. 

5/ Contact your IT department 

If the issue continues after completing these steps, your college IT/admin team may need to confirm that your Microsoft 365 license, account access, and OneDrive permissions were fully migrated from the old domain to the new one. Please reach out to your college IT support team or Microsoft 365 administrator so they can review your account migration and permissions from their end. 

• In case you do not know who is your IT admin, kindly refer to this article: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support  

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to share them in the comment below. I'm very happy to help.  

Thank you again for your understanding and cooperation. 

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Answer 2

The documents are opening read-only because Word sees them as restricted or view-only after the account/domain change. Try these steps on the Mac for one of the affected files, then repeat or apply to the folder as needed:

1. Check macOS file attributes
   1. In Finder, right-click the Word file on the desktop and select Get Info.
   2. In General, make sure Locked is not checked.
   3. In Sharing & Permissions, ensure the current macOS user has Read & Write access.
2. Clear Word’s “Always open Read-Only / view-only” setting
   1. Open the document in Word.
   2. Go to File > Info.
   3. If Always open view-only or Always open Read-Only is enabled, select it once to clear/turn it off.
3. Switch from Viewing to Editing mode
   1. In the upper-right corner of the document window, select the drop-down that shows Viewing or Reviewing.
   2. Change it to Editing.
   3. If Editing is not available, the document is still restricted by permissions tied to the old college account; in that case, save a new local copy:
      • Use File > Save As and save to a new location (e.g., Documents folder) with a new name.
      • Open that new file and confirm it opens in Editing mode.
4. If the file is marked read-only by Word’s protection
   1. In Word, select Review > Restrict Editing.
   2. If Allow only this type of editing in the document is checked and set to No changes (Read only), select Stop Protection.
   3. If a password is requested and is unknown (set under the old account), create a new document and copy/paste the content into it, then save under the current account.

If the issue only occurs for files originally created or synced under the old college domain, creating fresh local copies (Save As to a new folder under the current macOS user) usually breaks the old account restrictions and allows normal editing.

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References:

• Enable editing in your document
• Make a document read only in Word
• Why did my file open read-only?