Word Cannot Open the Document: User Does Not Have Access Privileges

Stay calm if Word says 'Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges' when you trying to open a document file. Follow this page, you'll learn what does this error mean and how to fix the 'Word cannot open the document' error successfully. And don't worry if your Word documents are corrupted due to uncertain causes. Use Stellar file repair software to repair corrupted files efficiently.

Stay calm if you have a similar error on your Windows or Mac computers. Follow this page; you'll learn how to fix this 'Windows cannot open the document' error, making your Word file openable again immediately. 

Fix Word Cannot Open the Document User Have No Access Privileges with Document Repair Software

The first method we suggest you try is using a Microsoft repair tool. If the Word documents cannot be opened successfully, it is a corruption issue that you may encounter.

EaseUS Fixo Document Repair allows you to scan and repair unopenable Word files immediately.

Check the fabulous repair functions of the EaseUS Word repair tool here：

• 🏆Repair Word documents, Excel files, PPTs, and Adobe PDFs opened with random codes.
• 🏆Deal with Word not opening, blank documents, Word found unreadable content and other Microsoft Office issues.
• 🏆Repair corrupted files saved on various storage media like USB, SD card, pen drive, etc.

Now, download this file repair tool to scan and repair corrupted Word documents efficiently. 

Step 1. You can install the EaseUS Word repair tool on both Windows & macOS computers. After installation, the software will be launched automatically. Click "File Repair" > "Add Files" to select cannot open Word documents in the File Explorer window.

Step 2. To repair just one Word document, move the pointer to the target file and click "Repair." Select "Repair All" if you want to repair the whole Word document in the list.

Step 3. Choose "Save" or "Save All" to store the repaired Word files on your computer. If you have encountered Microsoft 365 can't open files on Mac, this tool can also help you a lot.

We also provide a video on quickly repairing corrupted files using EaseUS Fixo Document Repair; take a look!

• 00:14 Method 1. Insert to a new Word document
• 00:38 Method 2. Use open and repair
• 00:55 Method 3. Default settings
• 01:30 Method 4. EaseUS Fixo Document Repair

Share this professional Word repair tool and the video tutorial on social media to help more users fix Word that cannot open the document error.

Fix Word Cannot Open the Document: User Does Not Have Access Privileges in Windows

Here, we collected 3 practical solutions that will be able to help you fix this issue immediately:

1. #1. Get All Permissions
2. #2. Remove Properties and Personal Information
3. #3. Copy the Word Document to Another Location

Remember to follow the methods one by one and stop when the error is resolved. Let's start now.

Fix 1. Get All Permissions to Access Word Files

Step 1. Right-click a Word file that won't open and select "Properties".

Step 2. Go to the Security tab and click "Advanced".

Step 3. Click "Add" on the next window and click "Select a principal".

Step 4. Click "Advanced" and click "Find Now".

Step 5. Select "Authenticated Users" and click "OK".

Step 6. Click "OK" to confirm, and check "Full Control", click "OK".

Step 7. Click "Apply" and "OK".

After this, restart your computer, and you can try to open the Word file again. If you still cannot open the Word document, the file may be corrupted. Go back to EaseUS Fixo Document Repair, or you can continue with Fix 2.

Fix 2. Remove Properties and Personal Information

Step 1. Right-click the Word file that cannot open and select "Properties".

Step 2. Go to the Details tab and click "Remove Properties and Personal Information".

Step 3. Check "Create a copy with all possible properties removed" and click "OK".

After this, restart your PC and re-try to open the Word file. 

Fix 3. Copy the Word Document to Another Location

If you finish Fix 1 and Fix 2 but the Word application still pops up the error message 'Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges', don't worry. You can switch the user account and try to open the document in another location.

Here are the steps:

Step 1. Copy the unopenable Word document file to an external storage device, like a USB flash drive.

Step 2. Click the Windows icon and the Users icon.

Step 3. Select to log in as administrator and type password if necessary.

Step 4. Copy the Word document to the desktop and double-click to see if you can open it.

If yes, congratulations. The Word cannot open error is resolved. If not, try to fix not opening Word documents with EaseUS Word repair software:

Fix Word Cannot Open the Document User Does Not Have Access Privileges on Mac

So how do you fix the "Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges" error on Mac? Here are three fixes that we collected from answers.microsoft.com and hope that will be helpful for you:

1. #1. Reset User Home Folder Permissions and ACLs via Terminal
2. #2. Repair Permissions via Disk Utility
3. #3. Create A New User Account and Open Word in the New User Account 

Let's see how to fix Word won't open error on your Mac computer now. 

Fix 1. Reset User Home Folder Permissions and ACLs via Terminal

Step 1. Boot Mac from the recovery partition and open Terminal Utility.

Step 2. Type the following command and hit Return.

Step 3. Restart the Mac computer and try to open the Word file again.

If this fix works, congratulations. You can stop here. If not, continue trying the next fix.

Fix 2. Repair Permissions via Disk Utility

Step 1. Quit all applications on your Mac computer.

Step 2. Restart the Mac computer and hold the Shift key.

Step 3. When you see the Progress Bar, release the Shift key.

Step 4. Sign in with your account and wait for the loading to complete.

Step 5. Restart Mac and retry to open the Word document.

If it works, stop here and use your Word files. If not, try the next fix.

Fix 3. Create a New User Account and Open Word in the New User Account 

Step 1. Click the Apple menu, select "Preferences," and click "Users & Groups".

Step 2. Click the Add button, and click "New Account" on the pop-up menu.

Step 3. Choose a type of user - "Administrator", "Standard", or "Share Only". (Administrator is recommended here.)

Step 4. Enter a username and password, and click "Create User". 

Step 5. Restart your Mac and sign in to the original user account. Copy the unopenable Word file to an external storage device.

Step 6. Restart the Mac and try to open the Word file in the new User Account.

If the above 3 methods fail to solve the problem of Word won't open on Mac, please contact Microsoft Office's support team. They'll resolve your problem as soon as possible.

Conclusion

This post has looked at how Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges on both Windows and Mac. However, to solve this Word won't open error ASAP, it is highly recommended that you use Word repair software like EaseUS Fixo Document Repair.

FAQs on Word Cannot Open the Document

You can read this FAQ part to get more info on this Word error message:

1. Why can't I access my Word documents?

Here is a list of all possible reasons that block you from entering a Word file:

• You don't have enough privileges to view the content.
• Files cannot be opened during transferring.
• The file is unopenable while updating the Word client.
• You set a password to protect the files.

2. What do you do when it says the word cannot open the document?

So how do I fix the Word cannot open the document access privileges error on Windows or macOS? Here is what to do when this error occurs to you:

• Complete the file transfer if you are doing so.
• Update the Word application to the latest edition.
• Stop using the Word document.
• Follow the respective solutions to fix the Word won't open error on Windows or Mac.