Locking Part of an Excel Spreadsheet
November 11th, 2005
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This is a situation that often comes up in our Excel classes:
“I need to add data to my spreadsheet, but I want to lock the cells that contain formulas so they don’t get overwritten.”
It’s easy to Protect an entire spreadsheet from the Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet… menu item. However, this option protects all the cells in the spreadsheet.
Unless…you first unlock the cells you want to remain editable. Here’s how:
- Select the cells you want to be editable.
- Select Format | Cells, and click the Protection tab:
- Clear the check from the Locked checkbox.
- Click OK.
- Select Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet…
- Leave all the default items checked. (If you wish, you can add checks to any features you want users to access.) Add a password if you want to prevent a user from Unprotecting the sheet from the Tools menu.
- Click OK.
- Users will now be able to edit only the cells that are unlocked. If a user tries to edit a locked cell on a protected worksheet, he/she will see the following message:
