Remove Mark as Final Option in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Have you ever received a presentation that doesn't allow you to make any changes? This could happen because you are working with a password-protected presentation. Or, the presentation could have been Marked as Final. Fortunately, Mark as Final is more of an administrative tool than a security tool. Its purpose is to make others aware that the author of the presentation doesn't want others editing this work. First of all, you need to make sure that a presentation indeed has a Mark as Final attribute applied. To do so, check the lower-left area of the Status Bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint Interface. You should see the Mark as Final icon, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Mark as Final icon

Follow these steps to learn more about removing the Mark as Final option applied to a presentation in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows:

1. Open the presentation that has been Marked as Final.
2. To determine whether a presentation is marked as final, look for these two indications:
• A Mark as Final icon in the Status Bar at the bottom left corner, as shown highlighted in red within Figures 1 and 2.
• A yellow strip right above the Slide Area, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2, below, with a message that this presentation discourages editing.
• 
  Figure 2: Presentation marked as final
3. Within the yellow strip right above the Slide Area (refer to Figure 2 above), click the Edit Anyway button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3, below, to enable editing for a file.
4. 
   Figure 3: Edit Anyway button
5. Alternatively, you can access the File tab of the Ribbon, and open the Info Pane, as shown in Figure 4, below. Click the Protect Presentation button to bring up the menu, as shown in Figure 4. Click on the Mark as Final option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4. Since this is a toggle option, this action removes the Mark as Final applied to the active presentation.
6. 
   Figure 4: Mark as Final
4. When you remove the Mark as Final from a presentation, the icon disappears from the Status Bar, as shown in Figure 5, below. You also no longer see the yellow strip, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, previously on this page.
5. 
   Figure 5: Mark as Final removed