It’s not too hard to see why you’d want to keep some of your documents secure and secret. Most people write important information down to preserve it. Businesses write sensitive information in their records. All of these scenarios should be better protected than just hoping that someone doesn’t get into your computer and view them.
LibreOffice offers support for document encryption out of the box. You can encrypt your important files using strong AES encryption effortlessly in the process of saving them.
Also read: 6 of the Best LibreOffice Extensions You Should Use
Encrypt Your Document
LibreOffice makes encryption dead easy. There isn’t much additional work that goes into saving a document with encryption. Start by either creating a new blank document to save immediately, or you can write a document and save it after. You also have the option of opening an existing file and re-saving it with encryption.
Save As
When you have a document that you want to encrypt, click “File” in the top menu of LibreOffice. In the drop-down select “Save As.”
A new window will open for you to choose a location for your file and to name it. Do both of those things like you normally would.
Shift your focus to the bottom of the window. You’ll see three checkboxes. Despite how it may look, you actually want the one labeled “Save with password.” Check that box. When you’re ready, press “Save.”
Choose Your Password
A new window will open up with a couple of input fields to enter a password for the file. If you’re good with things the way they are, you can stop there and click “Ok.” There is an option for a bit more security.
Click on “Options” below the password fields. That will extend the window to reveal the option to add an additional password for editing. So with the first password that you set above, someone can read the file but not edit it. The second password would be required for that. Check the box and provide a password to enable it.
Before you press “OK” you need remember your password(s). There’s no way to recover them, and there’s no way to get your documents back if you forget. After you press “OK,” your document will be encrypted.
Also read: How to Create a PDF With Fillable Forms in LibreOffice
Open Your Document
When the time comes to open your encrypted document again, go ahead and open LibreOffice. Click the icon to open a document like you normally would.
Locate your document in the browser window and select it. Open your document.
LibreOffice will prompt you to enter your document’s password before letting you go any further. Enter the password that you set when encrypting the document.
After you successfully enter the password, LibreOffice will go to work opening it. Because of the encryption, it’ll take a few seconds longer than normal, but LibreOffice will open it.
From there, you can use your document like you normally would, saving with the regular “Save” button. Every time you open your document, you’ll be prompted for the password.
Nick is a freelance tech. journalist, Linux enthusiast, and a long time PC gamer.
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