Solution 1:
Open Windows Explorer.
Choose Folder Options from the View menu. (In some versions of Windows you choose Options from the View menu, or Folder Options from the Tools menu.) Windows displays the Folder Options (or just plain Options) dialog box.
Make sure the File Types tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
In the list of Registered File Types, locate and select Microsoft Word Document.
Click on the Edit button. Windows displays the Edit File Type dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Select the Open option in the Actions list.
Click on Advanced. The Edit File Type dialog box appears.
Click on Open in the Actions field.
Click on Edit. The Editing Action dialog box appears.
Select the contents of the Application Used to Perform Action box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Press CTRL+C. This copies the contents of the Application Used to Perform Action box.
Click on Cancel.
Click the New button. Windows displays the New Action dialog box.
In the Action box, enter the name you want to appear in the shortcut menu. For instance, you could type Open Read-Only.
Position the insertion point in the Application Used to Perform Action box and press CTRL+V. The information you copied in step 8 is pasted into the box.
Select the Use DDE check box. The New Action dialog box expands.
In the DDE Message box, enter the following text:
[FileOpen ("""%1"""),.ReadOnly]
In the Application box, enter this single word: WinWord.
In the Topic box, enter this single word: System.
Click Close or OK as necessary to dismiss all the dialog boxes.
Solution 2:
I had the same problem on Windows 7. The above answer doesn't work for Windows 7 because the interface for file associations has changed. The good news is that Open as Read-Only is now a simpler process.
SHIFT + Right-Click or hit F10 -> click Open as Read-Only
Solution 3:
Instead of Shift+Right-Click -> Open as Read Only, use Open in Protected View. Seems to do what's needed and prevents editing of the document. It should work for Word and Excel files.
Solution 4:
Another option if you are opening the file in an Office program is to follow the MS instructions.
- Open the Office program you need
- Click the Office button, and Open
- Browse to the file you want to open and select it
- On the Open button at the bottom, click the arrow and choose "Open as Read-Only"
I tried this with Excel and it actually opened the file as read-only.
When using the Shift+Right Click, the "Open as Read Only" option in Explorer seemed to have no effect. I do not see an "Open in Protected View" option.
My whole reason for opening the file as read-only is so others can edit it while I have it open, so making the file read-only won't work.
I also don't want to go through 18 steps to add an action, or edit the registry (not even sure I'm allowed to at work).
I know this isn't technically opening it from Windows Explorer, but lots of people (like me) get here from Google and want to open something in an Office program.