Encrypt with Password Option in PowerPoint 2003 and 2002 for Windows

Why would anyone want to password-protect their PowerPoint presentations? There are many reasons, and here are some of them:

1. A presentation with confidential content can be prevented from being edited if it is password-protected. Nobody without access to the password can open or edit the presentation file.
2. The password-protected presentation is safer to share. You can provide the password to the person whom you are sharing the presentation with if they need to edit.
3. In addition to providing a password-to-open option, PowerPoint provides a less restrictive password-to-modify option. So your presentation can be opened by anybody, but can't be modified, this makes your content non editable.

There are two ways of accessing password protection controls in PowerPoint 2002 and 2003 for Windows. In this tutorial, let's explore both the ways:

1. Open the presentation, and choose File | Save As, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Save As
2. This opens the Save As dialog box, as shown in Figure 2, below. Select Tools | Security Options.
3. 
   Figure 2: Tools
3. Doing so brings up Security Options dialog box, as shown in Figure 3, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: Security Options
5. There are two password choices:

Password to Open

6. Type a password in the field, and the next time you or anybody else opens the file, PowerPoint will prompt to enter the password.

Password to Modify

7. Type a password in the field to make the presentation readable and visible, but not editable.
4. Click OK, this opens Confirm Password window, as shown in Figure 4, below.
5. 
   Figure 4: Confirm Password
5. Re-enter the password. If you opted for both open and modify passwords in the preceding steps, you'll get the confirmation password window twice. Enter the passwords and click OK to get back to Save As dialog box.
6. Save your password-protected presentation.
7. Alternatively with your presentation open, choose Tools | Options, as shown in Figure 5, below.
8. 
   Figure 5: Options
8. This action opens the Options dialog box, as shown in Figure 6, below. Choose the Security tab enter the passwords.
9. 
   Figure 6: Security
9. Repeat steps 3, 4, 5, and 6.