To prevent you from inadvertently changing the data and formulas of your cells in Excel, we recommend that you lock them. Once your cells have been locked and therefore protected, they can be unlocked at any time by the person who initiated this locking procedure. Follow the instructions below to lock and protect cells in your worksheet. These instructions apply to the 2010, 2007, and 2003 versions of Microsoft Excel.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Lock and Protect Cells: Excel 2007 and Excel 2010
Step 1. Open the Excel worksheet which contains the cells you want to lock
Step 2. Select the cell (s) you want to lock
Step 3. Right click on the relevant cells and select “Format Cells”
Step 4. Click on the “Protection” tab
Step 5. Check the “Locked” option
Step 6. Confirm by pressing “OK”
Step 7. Click on the "Review" tab located at the top of your Excel spreadsheet
Step 8. Click on the "Protect sheet" button located in the "Modifications" section
Step 9. Check the option “Protect the sheet and contents of locked cells”
Step 10. Enter a password in the “Password to remove sheet protection” section
Step 11. Confirm by pressing “OK”
Step 12. Enter your password again in the “Confirm Password” window
Step 13. Confirm by pressing “OK”
The cells you selected are now locked and protected. To unlock them, you will have to re-select them and enter the password you have just defined.
Method 2 of 2: Lock and protect your cells: Excel 2003
Step 1. Open the Excel spreadsheet that contains the cells you want to lock
Step 2. Select the cell (s) you want to lock
Step 3. Right click on the affected cells and select “Format Cells” from the drop-down menu
Step 4. Click on the “Protection” tab
Step 5. Check the “Locked” option
Step 6. Click the “OK” button
Step 7. Click on the “Tools” tab located in the task bar above your Excel document
Step 8. Select “Protection” from the list of options available
Step 9. Click on "Protect Sheet."
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Step 10. Check the option “Protect sheet and contents of locked cells”
Step 11. Enter a password in the “Password to remove protection from the sheet” section and click “OK”
Step 12. Enter your password again in the “Confirm Password” window
Step 13. Confirm by pressing “OK”
The cells you selected are now locked and protected. To unlock them, you will have to re-select them and enter the password you have just defined.
Advice
- If other people have access to your Excel document, consider locking all cells with formulas or crucial data. In this way, you will protect these cells from any inadvertent modification.
- If most of your cells contain formulas or crucial data, first lock your entire document and then unlock the few cells that might change.