Excel Review Menu: Protect Sheet

 

Review Menu: Protect Sheet

Purpose

• Protect Sheet: To prevent unauthorized changes to the contents and structure of your worksheet by restricting editing capabilities. This feature is useful when you want to share a worksheet but limit what others can modify.

Usage

1. Accessing Protect Sheet:

   • Navigate: Click Review > Protect Sheet.
   • Alternatively, you can access protection options by right-clicking on the sheet tab and selecting Protect Sheet.

2. Setting Protection:

   • Password:
     • You can set a password to restrict who can unprotect the sheet. Enter a password in the “Password” field if you want to require a password for unprotection. Note: Make sure to remember or securely store the password, as it cannot be recovered if lost.
   • Permissions:
     • Select Locked Cells: Allows users to select cells that are locked.
     • Select Unlocked Cells: Allows users to select cells that are not locked.
     • Format Cells: Users can format cells.
     • Format Columns: Users can format columns.
     • Format Rows: Users can format rows.
     • Insert Columns: Users can insert new columns.
     • Insert Rows: Users can insert new rows.
     • Insert Hyperlinks: Users can add hyperlinks.
     • Delete Columns: Users can delete columns.
     • Delete Rows: Users can delete rows.
     • Sort: Users can sort data.
     • AutoFilter: Users can apply or remove filters.
     • Use PivotTable Reports: Users can create or use PivotTables.

3. Applying Protection:

   • After setting the desired permissions and (optionally) entering a password, click OK to apply protection.
   • If you set a password, you will be prompted to confirm it by entering it again.

4. Unprotecting the Sheet:

   • Access: Click Review > Unprotect Sheet.
   • Password: If a password was set, you will need to enter it to remove the protection.

5. Considerations:

   • Locked vs. Unlocked Cells: By default, all cells are locked when protection is applied. You can unlock specific cells by selecting them, right-clicking, choosing Format Cells, going to the Protection tab, and unchecking the Locked box before applying protection.
   • Sheet vs. Workbook Protection: Protecting a sheet does not protect the entire workbook. For additional security, you may want to use Protect Workbook to prevent changes to the structure or window of the workbook.

Applications

• Preventing Accidental Changes: Protecting a sheet ensures that important formulas, data, or formatting remain intact and are not accidentally altered by users.
• Restricting Access: Control what users can or cannot do within the worksheet, such as preventing the deletion of critical rows or columns.
• Collaboration: When sharing a worksheet with multiple users, protection helps maintain data integrity by restricting modifications.