Track Changes in Protected Form

Question

Assigning standard protection to a Word form deactivates Track Changes.

Is there any other method available whereby Track Changes can be activated in protected Word forms?

Answer 1

There are several protection methods. By "standard protection" I assume you mean protection for "Filling in forms", which does deactivate Track Changes. Whether another method will work for you depends on why you're applying protection.

If you're using legacy form fields, they will operate only with "Filling in forms" protection, so no Tracked Changes.

If you're using the "No changes" type of protection but setting exceptions for certain areas of the document, again Tracked Changes will be disabled.

If you're using content controls, or if you can replace all of your legacy form fields with equivalent content controls, then you should not use the Restrict Editing pane at all. Instead, select the whole document (or at least the part of it that contains content controls and plain text), click the Group button on the Developer ribbon, and click Group in the menu. Editing will be allowed only inside the content controls, and Track Changes will work there. The drawback of this method is that grouping can be turned off by any user who knows how to do it; there's no password protection for it.

Answer 2

See: http://www.msofficeforums.com/word-vba/42560-protecting-only-1-section.html