How to Make Read-Only Files Editable Only by Admins in Windows?

Setting security permissions at the directory level with inheritance is your best bet. You can also use command line tools for bulk changes on all files within a directory. It's straightforward and avoids a lot of manual work.

It might be better for you to look into document management systems, especially since it sounds like managing permissions at the file level could get pretty chaotic over time. Systems like that could provide the functionality you need without the hassle of adjusting NTFS permissions constantly.

Honestly, managing NTFS permissions for individual files is a headache. You might find it easier to set up version control that captures changes, so you have rollback options. Plus, you could employ a naming convention for files that indicates their status, which helps in keeping track.

You can't solely rely on NTFS permissions for this. Consider creating a script that monitors the read-only attribute changes and adjusts the permissions accordingly. Plus, you can use the 'icacls' command in PowerShell to manage permissions in bulk, simplifying things a lot.

It's important to remember that user permissions in Windows don’t work like you might think. Each file has an access control list (ACL). Instead of naming individual users, you should group them, granting permissions to the group instead. That way, when someone needs access, you just add them to the group. You could place sensitive files in a dedicated subfolder and set the permissions for that folder so that standard users can read files but only your Admins can write or modify them.