Protected view issue

Question

Hello,

Recently one of my staff member has reported issues of opening both Word and Excel documents. As part of our security practices, we make sure that in Trust Center under protected view settings all 3 boxes are checked. For some reason now, her computer will only open documents if these boxes are unchecked. This is creating a security concern for us. I've tried, repairing MS 365, I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and I'm still running into the same issue on this computer. She is currently running Version 1.2023.1108.200 (Production). Any advice or help would be gladly appreciated.

Answer 1

Dear Dustin Bacon,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

As per your description, it seems that you are having issue opening Word and Excel documents with Protected view on a specific device, and you've tried repair Office and reinstallation.

If the understanding above is right, considering that issue only happens on one device and you've tried Office repair and reinstallation, please check if the same issue will occur if you try using a new user profile in Windows, this can help narrow down if this issue is related to old user profile.

For your reference: Create a local user or administrator account in Windows (microsoft.com)

Please also navigate to Word > File > Account and take a screenshot as shown below to share:

Appreciate your understanding that sometimes the initial reply may not resolve the situation very soon. However, we can work together to narrow down and resolve the situation. Please kindly post back and provide the more information, then we can focus on your specific scenario and provide specific suggestions.

If the understanding above is not consistent with yours, please feel free to post back and point that.

Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. We hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Thanks for your cooperation.

Sincerely，

Rhoda | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Dear Dustin Bacon,

Good morning!

Thank you for posting in the Microsoft Community. We will be happy to help you. We are investigating your situation and will update the thread shortly.

I appreciate your patience and understanding and appreciate your time and cooperation.

Sincerely

Sean | Microsoft Community Moderator