Excel - Protecting Worksheets

Background Information

Excel provides several ways to protect information and calculations in a worksheet; this Job Aid includes steps for the most common method to protect a worksheet.

Lock/Unlock Cells

1. Select the cell(s) that users can change.
2. From the Home Tab in the Cells group, click Format.
3. Choose Lock Cell. This will unlock the cell.

OPTIONAL: To Hide formula and functions in a cell, choose Format Cells from this menu, select the Protection tab, and check the Hidden checkbox.

Protect Cells

After the appropriate cells have been unlocked, the worksheet needs to be protected. This simple process allows for protection to be customized.

Protect the Worksheet:

1. From the Home Tab in the Cells group, click Format.
2. Choose Protect Sheet.
3. Choose the desired settings from the Protect Sheet dialogue box. The default options are Select locked cells and select unlocked cells.
4. Add a password if desired.
5. Press OK.

Unprotecting the Worksheet:

1. From the Review tab, press Unprotect Sheet. If prompted, type in the password.

Protecting a Specific Range of Cells

There may be situations where different levels of protection are needed in a worksheet. Users have the ability to password protect multiple sections of a spreadsheet to accomplish this goal. Please review the example in the attached pdf for these actions.

1. From the Review tab in the Changes group, press Allow Users to Edit Ranges.
2. Press New.
3. If desired, type a descriptive Title.
4. Click in the Refers to cells field then select the cells that should be password-protected.
5. Type the Range Password.
6. Press OK.
7. Re-type the Range Password.
8. Press OK.
9. Press Protect Sheet.
10. Add additional protection if desired (best practice is to include a password).
11. Type a password in the Password to unprotect sheet field.
12. Press OK.

To review images or save/download/print a copy of this Job Aide, please select the pdf attachment.