How to Password Protect Cells in Excel

When you are using excel in a team, it’s infuriating if your data gets lost and you can’t return to the original sheet. Sometimes, other users might format the entire sheet. So, you’d rather protect cells than face such instances.

Luckily, the in-built feature of excel will allow you to protect all cells. Additionally, you can also lock only specific cells you want. With this feature, you can restrict access to other team members from editing or deleting. You can also remove it anytime you want.

So, In this article, you will learn how to password protect cells in excel. 

How to Password Protect Cells in Excel

You can lock specific cells, all cells, or formula cells to protect them. If you put password protection, others cannot make changes in the protected cell. However, please note that you can not protect it when accessed from the web. This only works on your excel app.

Similarly, by default, all your excel cells are locked. So, you need to unlock all cells before protecting specific cells. Please find the steps for locking various cells below.

Protect Specific Cells

Sometimes, there might be a need for editing on some cells. In such a case, you can protect only specific cells to prevent other users from editing them. To put a password, please follow the given steps. 

On Mac

1. Go to Excel and choose the sheet you want to lock 
2. Select all the cells and either press Cmd + 1 or Right-Click on the cells to open the Format Cells menu
   
3. Now, on Format Cells, navigate to Protection Tab
4. Click on the Locked box to uncheck it and tap on the OK button
   
5. Now, choose the specific cell and Right-Click on the cell
6. Open the Format Cells from the menu
   
7. Navigate to the Protection Tab and click on the Locked box
8. Press on the OK button
   

On Windows

1. Open the Excel sheet you want to lock
2. Select all the cells and either press Ctrl + 1 or Right-Click to open Format Cells menu
3. Go to Protection Tab and click on the Locked box to unlock
   
4. Press on the OK button
5. Then, Choose the specific cell you want to lock and Right-Click on the cell
6. Select Format Cells > Protection Tab again
7. Click on the Locked box and press the OK button
   

Protect Formula Cells

Sometimes you might need to protect cells with formula when you don’t want to risk losing them. Again, as I mentioned earlier, you must unlock all the cells first to lock formula cells. Please follow the given steps. 

On Mac

1. Go to Excel and choose the sheet you want to lock 
2. Select all the cells and either press Cmd + 1 or Right Click on the cells to open the Format Cells menu.
   
3. On Format Cells, navigate to Protection Tab.
4. Click on the Locked box to uncheck it and tap on the OK button
   
5. Now, navigate to the Home Tab
6. Click on Find & Select > Go To Special
7. From the menu, choose Formulas and click on OK
   
8. Now, choose the cell and Right-Click on the cell to open the Format Cell menu
   
9. Navigate to the Protection Tab and click on the Locked box
10. Press on the OK button
    

On Windows

1. Open Excel Sheet you want to lock
2. Select all the cells and either press Ctrl + 1 or right-click to open the Format Cells menu
3. Go to Protection Tab and click on the Locked box to unlock
   
4. Press on the OK button
5. From Home Tab, click on Find & Select > Go to Special
6. Choose Formulas and click on OK
   
7. Now, Right-Click on the cell and open the Format Cell menu
8. Navigate to the Protection Tab and click on the Locked box
   
9. Press on the OK button

Protect All Cells

There’s an option for users who wish to protect entire cells. If you lock all the cells, others will need a password to edit. However, you can also opt for the options to allow editing access to other users. You can either allow them to format, insert, and delete cells or only select cells. Check out the given steps below to put the password.

1. Open the sheet and select all cells 
2. Navigate to the Review tab and click on Protect Sheet.
   
3. Protect the sheet and the contents of locked cells appear on your screen. Keeping the password to the lock sheet is optional. However, If you wish to keep your password, enter and re-enter your password.
   
4. Choose the preferred option for users.
5. Finally, click on the OK button to save

How to Unprotect Cells in Excel

You can unprotect cells at any moment for your convenience. Removing passwords from cells will provide open access for editing to users. Check out the steps to unlock cells. 

1. Go to Excel and open the protected sheet 
2. Select all the cells and Right-Click on the cells to open the Format Cells menu. 
3. Now, on Format Cells, navigate to Protection Tab.
4. Click on the Locked box to uncheck it
   
5. Tap on the OK button

How Can I Tell if My Worksheet Is Protected?

You can easily know if your worksheet is protected by navigating to the Review tab of your sheet. It shows unprotect sheet or unprotect workbook if either of them is locked. You can tap and enter a password to unprotect the sheet and workbook.