Read only content cannot be changed, no modifications will be accepted

edit

Have you tried 'Format' > 'Sections' ? Then select the Section (eg. Section1) with 'Write Protection' activated and deactivate it. Now it should be editable...

I also got this problem after importing a Word ".doc" file with some embedded form objects ( check boxes ).

The file opens up just fine in Word, where I can check and uncheck the check boxes and edit the content with no problem.

But after importing and loading it into LibreWriter, the status bar showed "read only" and when trying to edit the contents a message popped up saying "Write-protected content cannot be changed, no modifications will be accepted". Check boxes could still be checked / unchecked, though.

The solution involving sections ( "Format" -> "Sections" ) didn't work, because it was grayed out ( --> no sections ).

Finally, the solution that worked for me was the one about "protected form":

• Go to "Tools" -> "Options" -> "LibreOffice Writer" -> "Compatibility" -> "Protect form"
• Make sure the "Protect form" option is unchecked.

Now you can check / uncheck the check boxes and edit / modify the contents of the document.

( Using LibreOffice 5.1.6.2 and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS )

I solved my problem with protected forms by unsetting an option in the Options dialog:

Tools > Options ... > LibreOffice Writer > Compatibility > Remove the tick mark from the " Protect form " line.

I found an answer that worked for me here:

1. Select at least one character prior to the field, all the field, and at least one character after the field.
2. Cut this content.
3. Paste it back as unformatted text.
4. Manually remove the “#” before and after the re-pasted content.
5. Manually reformat any character styles that were present in the original field i.e., bold, italic, etc.

The field is lost by doing this, but at least you have the content.

Fixed in master towards 5.4 in bug 105625.

Just in case somebody else comes here looking for a solution, like I have, this worked for me:

I selected the text I wanted to delete (but was getting this error), and Selected Format > Clear Direct Formatting. Then I was able to press the Delete key and this time the selected text was successfully deleted.

In my scenario, I had a footer that said for example, Page 2 of 1 I couldn't delete the 1 to replace with the field PageCount (which it originally was - I don't know how it got wrong, nor how it got locked). It may originally have been a Word document. I do always save my documents as Microsoft Word 2007-2013 XML (.docx)

Please upload a file showing the problem so that a proper analysis can be done otherwise suggestions will be little better than guessing.

Causes can include

1 The file is still attached to an email and is therefore opened in READ ONLY mode -> click the Edit File icon

2 The file has a READ ONLY attribute -> change the file attribute

3 A Section has been set to Write Protect -> Format > Sections ...

4 You have opened a document twice and LO is preventing you getting yourself into a mess so sets the second instance to READ ONLY

I imported a DOC file whose content was protected. (And Insert -> Sections, Format -> Sections didn't work, because it was grayed out. Neither did saving without a password and/or in the ODT format.)

What worked was the following:

• Under Tools -> Options -> LibreOffice Writer -> Formatting Aids -> Protected Area activate "Ignore protection".

Notes:

• That will also remove protection from Table of Contents, etc. (if it was created as protected)
• One might want deactivate it again after editing, to prevent unintended edits in future
• I think I had to restart LO on the first activation, but couldn't reproduce it later (doc becomes editable immediately) - your mileage may vary

I imported a form from an RTF file, which included a table, which had some part of its cells somehow protected. Saving this as .odt file did not help.

What did help is the following:

• Save to a different format (e. g. MS Word 97/2000/XP/2003 (.doc)), that eventually does not support this protection.
• Close LibreOffice Writer.
• Open the new file (e. g. the .doc file) with LibreOffice Writer and test if the removal of the protection has been successful.
• Save back to a .odt file.

What else should 'Read Only' mean? One must have applied the setting and should have known what he (f/m) does.

If needs arise to cancel protection: There are different containers of text that can be protected (tables by every singel cell; frames - just to name two examples). Thus a refined design of using protection in a document / template is possible. A global switching off of protections will not be available.

I think the documents should be analised with the help of the navigator to identify the containers concerned - and, of course, the templates should be reworked to get documents as intended.

Editing: In a comment above "jerquee" linked in a thread from another forum on LibreOffice. There "jonhayes" had attached an example file to his post. Having studied that a bit with the help of an XML-editor I think the most likely cause of the problem is carelessly pasting content copied from non-odf source and containing incompatible or unsufficiently specified field-types. For better understanding you may refer to "owengs"'s contributions to this thread. The bug in LibreOffice should be to not refuse accepting pasted contents that cannot be thoroughly validated for one or another reason. We experience just another aspect of the "compatibility dilemma" enjoyed to the full by an unfortunately powerful competitor.