Locking Part of an Excel Spreadsheet

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:

1. Select the cells you want to be editable.
2. Select Format | Cells, and click the Protection tab:



3. Clear the check from the Locked checkbox.
4. Click OK.
5. Select Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet…



6. 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.
7. Click OK.
8. 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: