Alternatively, you can click More users… and allow only specific users to modify the sections marked as open for editing.

The areas marked for as open for editing will now appear enclosed in square brackets.

Once you’ve selected all the areas you’d like to mark as open for editing, check Everyone under Exceptions (optional) in the Restrict Editing panel.

If you want to select more than one area, click CTRL while selecting the area using the mouse.

Now select the parts of the document you’d like to open up for editing without restrictions.

If you’d like to set a different restriction level for the document, click the menu and select from Tracked changes, Comments, or Filling in forms.

No changes (Read only) is the default restriction type.

In the Restrict Editing panel on the right, check Allow only this type of editing in the document under 2.

Click Restrict Editing in the Protect section of the ribbon.Switch to the Review tab on the ribbon.So rather than selecting which sections you want to lock, you must select which areas you want to make available for editing. Restrict Editing locks an entire document but allows the owner to open sections for editing. The Restrict Editing feature in Word 2016 allows a document owner to not only determine which sections of a document others can edit, but it’s also possible to enforce Tracked Changes so that if you want to open up a document for editing, you can easily see what’s been changed.

Word 2016 Restrict Editing – Start protection (Image Credit: Russell Smith)

How to lock word document from editing