Removing Document Edit Protections from Word DOCX files

Ever wanted to edit a Word document that had editing disabled?  Typically you need to have a password to be able to edit the file, but if you really want to get rid of it, there's a pretty straight forward process.

1. Unzip the DOCX file (it's just a ZIP file after all) into a directory some where.
   • This produces the following:
   • [Content_Types].xml
   • _rels (sub directory)
   • docProps (sub directory)
   • word (sub directory)
2. Using your favorite text editor (I used VIM), edit the file word/settings.xml
3. Remove the XML tag:  <w:documentProtection/>
4. Zip up the three (3) directories and the [Content_Types].xml file and make sure the extension on the zip file is DOCX.

You're ready to go.  You've now removed the protections on a Word Document.  Be careful with your new found powers, young padawan.