ERROR: Attempting to open a Office file type that is blocked

When you try to open any office file documents created with an earlier version of Office applications like Word 95, Word 6.0 or Word 2, the file will open in 'Protected View' by default and the editing functions will be disabled.

Though it is not recommended, but if you face such issue and still want to open the document for editing, you can follow the steps mentioned here.

'File Block' prevents outdated file types from opening to reduce the chance of being exploit to hackers. In some cases it causes your file to open in 'Protected View' and disables the 'Save' and 'Open' features of the opened document. This is to avoid the security risks of being vulnerable, due to the code that's being used to open and save the older formats.

In such cases, you may notice the following messages prompt by Microsoft Office applications:

1. You are attempting to open a file type that is blocked by your File Block settings in the Trust Center.
2. You are attempting to open a file type that is blocked by your registry policy setting.
3. You are attempting to open a file that was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office. This file type is blocked from opening in this version by your registry policy setting.

The following are examples of the Message Bar for 'File Block'. When you see the message with a 'Yellow Shield', it indicates that the file can be edited in protected mode. When you see the message with 'Red Shield', it indicates that the file can’t be edited and thus the 'Save' button will get disabled. The error message will appear, if the File Block settings configured by you or your administrator are set to Do not open selected file types.

File Block Settings

You can configure how the 'File Block' will work, by making changes to the 'File Block settings' of the Microsoft applications. This is generally done in the Trust Center of the application. To open the settings page:

1. Click 'File > Options'.
2. Navigate to 'Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > File Block Settings'.
3. Uncheck the older file formats available in the list. These are:
   • Word 95 Binary Documents and Templates
   • Word 6.0 Binary Documents and Templates
   • Word 2 and earlier Binary Documents and Templates
4. Click on 'OK' to continue.

In this page, you can also modify the open behavior of the selected file types. There are three kinds of options available for you to choose:

• Do not open selected file types - This will block the selected file types from opening and saving. You will see an error message when this is set.
• Open selected file types in Protected View - When this is set, the selected file types will open in Protected View and the 'Enable Editing' button will get disabled.
• Open selected file types in Protected View and allow editing - When this is set, the selected file types will open in Protected View but the 'Enable Editing' button will stay enabled.

I hope that the above post was helpful and resolved the issue that you were looking for. Don't forget to subscribe to my feed and/or email newsletter to get the updates of the future posts. Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook to stay tuned.