--- title: "How to Make a File Read-Only and Vice Versa" description: "Have you ever accidentally overwritten a file or folder? In this article, learn how to stop accidental data loss by learning how to make a file read-only." canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/how-to-make-a-file-read-only/" --- # How to Make a File Read-Only and Vice Versa > Have you ever accidentally overwritten a file or folder? In this article, learn how to stop accidental data loss by learning how to make a file read-only. Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/how-to-make-a-file-read-only/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![How to Make a File Read-Only and Vice Versa](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/How-to-Make-a-File-Read-Only-and-Vice-Versa.jpg) # How to Make a File Read-Only and Vice Versa [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/94bb9f4917a5d829150fd33780938df32b516ee578009f07428971b8e3cb724c?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Jeff Stokes](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/jeff-stokes/)5 May 20213 min. read Categories: [Home Ops](/category/home-ops/) Tags:[File Properties](/tag/file-properties/)[Windows 10](/tag/windows-10/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#h-prerequisites) * [How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) in File Explorer](#h-how-to-make-a-file-read-only-and-writable-in-file-explorer) * [How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) via Command Line](#h-how-to-make-a-file-read-only-and-writable-via-command-line) * [How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) with PowerShell](#h-how-to-make-a-file-read-only-and-writable-with-powershell) * [Conclusion](#h-conclusion) When you need to ensure a file isn’t changed under any circumstances in Windows, it’s time to make it read-only. Setting a file as read-only or write-protecting a file prevents any changes whatsoever. If you don’t know how to set files as read-only and need to, you’re in the right place! In this tutorial, you’re going to learn how to set and remove the read-only attribute in File Explorer, the command-line (cmd), and via PowerShell! Let’s get going. ## Prerequisites This post will be a hands-on tutorial. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following: * A Windows PC. This tutorial will use Windows 10 and Windows PowerShell v5.1. * A file to toggle the read-only attribute on. This tutorial will use a file located at _C:\\Shared\\readme.txt_. ## How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) in File Explorer There are a few different ways to set a file as read-only but let’s start out this tutorial by first covering how to make it happen via Windows File Explorer. > _The read-only attribute is stored as a metadata property rather than in the content of the file. The property can be seen through Windows File Explorer._ Assuming that you’re on the desktop of your Windows PC: 1\. Open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the folder that stores the file you’ll be working with (_C:\\Shared_) in this instance. 2\. Right click the file and click **Properties** to open the file’s **Properties** box. This box contains various metadata about that particular file such as size, when it was created, modified, etc. It also has file attributes. Click the read-only checkbox in the **Attributes** group to write-protect the file or set it as read-only, click **Apply** to assign the read-only attribute, and **OK** to close the dialog box. ![The properties box of the file readme.txt. Note the location of the Read-only attribute check box and the Apply button.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-11.png) The properties box of the file readme.txt. Note the location of the Read-only attribute check box and the Apply button. > _Similarly, to remove the read-only attribute from the file, uncheck the **Read-only** checkbox._ ## How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) via Command Line File attributes aren’t just exposed via File Explorer. You can also manipulate file attributes including the read-only attribute via the command line. To do so, you must use a command called [`attrib`](https://home.csulb.edu/~murdock/attrib.html#:~:text=Using%20the%20ATTRIB%20command%2C%20you,to%20as%20read%2Fwrite). 1\. Open up a command prompt (_cmd.exe_)_._ 2\. Navigate to the folder the file is in. ```powershell cd c:\shared ``` 3\. Run `attrib` with no parameters. The `attrib` command will immediately look for all files in the working directory and return all files and the enabled file attributes. You can see below the _readme.txt_ file does not have the read-only attribute enabled. ![Archive attribute enabled (A) but no read-only attribute (R)](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-12.png) Archive attribute enabled (A) but no read-only attribute (R) 4\. Now, run `attrib` to assign the read-only attribute. The `+r` parameter is key here. This parameter tells Windows to set the read-only attribute on the file. ```powershell attrib +r readme.txt ``` 5\. Run `attrib` again with no parameters to verify the read-only attribute was applied. You can now see in the screenshot below the `R` label shows up indicating the read-only attribute has been applied write-protecting the file. ![Read-only attribute (R) is now enabled ](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-13.png) Read-only attribute (R) is now enabled > _Similarly, to remove the read-only attribute use the `-r` parameter._ ## How to Make a File Read-Only (and Writable) with PowerShell If you’re not a fan of the GUI or the command prompt or want to use have a little more ease of control, look no further than PowerShell! Let’s now learn how to make a file read-only with PowerShell! 1. Open Windows PowerShell. 2\. Run the `Get-Item` cmdlet providing the path to the file you’re toggling the read-only attribute on. The `Attributes` property returned contains each file attribute that’s currently enabled. ```powershell get-item -Path "c:\shared\readme.txt" | format-table name, attributes ``` ![The Archive attribute is only enabled. ](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-14.png) The Archive attribute is only enabled. > _Using the [`Format-Table`](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-format-table/) cmdlet is not necessary but by doing so, tells PowerShell to display only the two properties you’re interested in in an easy-to-view format (`Name` and `Attributes`)_ Related:[Get-ChildItem: Listing Files, Registry and Certificates](https://adamtheautomator.com/get-childitem/) 3\. Assign the read-only attribute by adding the `ReadOnly` attribute to the `Attributes` property as shown below. ```powershell ## Capture the file object in the $file variable $file = Get-Item -Path "c:\shared\readme.txt" ## Not to overwrite the existing attributes, create a new array containing ## the current file attributes while adding the ReadOnly attribute and assign ## that array as the new value of the Attributes property $file.Attributes = @($file.Attributes,"ReadOnly") ``` ![Assigning the Read Only Attribute](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-15.png) Assigning the Read Only Attribute 4\. Now, view the `Attributes` property of the `$file` object and you’ll see that you’ve now applied the `ReadOnly` attribute to the file while maintaining any existing attributes that existed on the file beforehand. You can also run `Get-Item` again to view the same results. ![How to make a file read-only (Viewing the Attribute Property)](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-16.png) How to make a file read-only (Viewing the Attribute Property) _To remove the `ReadOnly` attribute from the file, follow the exact same approach but this time set the value of the `Attributes` property to `Normal` e.g. `$file.Attributes = "Normal"`._ Related:[Learning PowerShell Format-Table Cmdlet](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-format-table/) ## Conclusion You should now know how to set a file as read-only and vice versa. Setting a file as read-only is meant to prevent accidental changes. But know that, setting a file as read-only is not necessarily a security measure and does not prevent access to the file or someone from simply changing the attribute themselves. 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Learn how to setup Pi-hole Docker container in this tutorial! ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/How-to-Fix-All-of-Those-Feature-update-to-Windows-10-Errors.jpg) ### [How to Fix All of Those “Feature update to Windows 10” Errors](/feature-update-to-windows-10/) Keeping Windows 10 up to date is important but you might run into one of the infamous “feature update to Windows 10” errors. 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