➤ How to lock or protect cells in Excel so they are not changed 🎮

As we have pointed out, there are circumstances in which the protection of the information in the tables is essential. The environments in which many people operate can be the epicenter of the disaster if for error are eliminated or edit crucial information from Excel tables

Don't worry, today we will teach you how lock cells in Excel to avoid this nuisance once and for all. In any case, if you want to use another method, you can also consider archiving and unprotecting the sheets of an Excel workbook using Macros.

How to lock or protect cells in Excel so they are not changed

Block the celle in Excel it can be very handy for protecting that data in a table that shouldn't be changed. In general terms, the process can be done in a very short time, even if some doubts often arise that complicate the operation for newbies.

Why is blocking the cells a complicated process?

Many may think that locking cells in Excel is a very simple process and indeed it is. The point is that the Microsoft program has its misleading aspects and this is where most users get it wrong.

By default, Excel cells are locked or at least that's how they appear when we check the rows created in Cell format, as the Locked feature is natively selected.

So why, if the cells are locked by default, can anyone edit the content? Precisely because it is necessary to permanently block them establish a password. On the other hand, if this is not what you were looking for, maybe what you need is to set an Excel file to read-only mode, another way to protect your documents in this application.

Okay, now you might think that setting a password solves the problem, but no. When a password for cell protection is established, this password will permanently block the modification of all cells which is inconvenient if you want to protect only some specific data.

The solution to the problem, lock cells in Excel

As you will see, if you want to lock specific cells, simply setting a password will not be useful. To solve this problem, contradictory as it may seem, the first thing to do is unlock the celle. Follow these steps:

The first step is to select all cells. Next, press the right mouse button and locate the option Formato that.
A new window will appear, in which the option appears stuck. As we said before, by default the cells appear as locked, you need to uncheck that option and press OK.
Now select the cells you want to protect. Once you've selected them, right-click and go to new su Formato that.
In cell format, the option must be activated stuck.
To continue with the process, go to Review, within this tab you will find the option Protect sheet, click on it.
After clicking Protect Sheet, you will be asked to create a password. Enter a password you remember and do click su OK. You will be asked again for the password to be confirmed, enter it again and press OK.

As you will see, the above method will protect the worksheet, before this you should know that you can toggle between protecting and unprotecting the sheets of an Excel workbook using macros, which might help you with this purpose as well.

Through this process you will be able to determine those parts of the document that anyone can modify and consequently those cells you want to protect. As you will see, the process is very simple, it only takes a few clicks to do it correctly.

Stop worrying about your employees or colleagues changing important data in Excel tables.

With this basic function of program, you will adequately protect the relevant information, leaving room for those that deserve to be changed, in this way you will facilitate the operations of all those who manage the document.

In any case, as we have mentioned before, there are many ways to protect an Excel document, for example you can encrypt or put a password on an Excel file, another option that many people recommend even compared to the one we talked about before .