How to Change the Read-Only Attribute on Files and Folders

PCs & Laptops For Dummies

Read-only is a file attribute, or a characteristic that the operating system assigns to a file. In this case, read-only means that the file can be only opened or read; you cannot delete, change, or rename any file that’s been flagged read-only.

To change the read-only attribute, follow these steps:

Right-click the file or folder icon.
Remove the check mark by the Read Only item in the file’s Properties dialog box.

The attributes are found at the bottom of the General tab.
Click OK.

Likewise, you can set the read-only attribute by placing a check mark in the box. This ensures that the file cannot be changed or deleted. Well, it can’t be changed or deleted until someone removes the read-only attribute again.

Files and folders you copy from an optical disc may inherit the read-only status. That’s because a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is Read-Only (RO) media. After a file is copied from the optical disc, however, you can change its read-only status as described in the steps.
The solid Read-Only check box in Windows 7 and Windows Vista refers to the file’s or folder’s permissions. The box may indicate that read-only permissions are set for other users on the same computer.

About This Article

About the book author:

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for 20 years. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written more than 90 books about personal computing technology, many of them accurate.
He combines his love of writing with his interest in technology to create books that are informative and entertaining, but not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into more than 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes does seem to work.
Perhaps Dan’s most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times number-one best seller (although, because it’s a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT best seller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.
Dan’s most recent titles include PCs For Dummies, 9th Edition; Buying a Computer For Dummies, 2005 Edition; Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies; Dan Gookin’s Naked Windows XP; and Dan Gookin’s Naked Office. He publishes a free weekly computer newsletter, “Weekly Wambooli Salad,” and also maintains the vast and helpful Web site www.wambooli.com.