Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Learn how to protect formula cells in Excel.
Welcome to another episode of the MrExcel podcast, where we dive into all things Excel. In this episode, we'll be discussing how to protect all formula cells in your spreadsheet. Don't forget to check out the entire podcast series by clicking the "i" in the top-right hand corner and accessing the playlist.
So, why would you want to protect your formula cells? Well, there are two main reasons: to prevent others from tampering with your formulas and to keep your formulas hidden from prying eyes. But did you know that all 16 billion cells in your spreadsheet start out locked by default? That's right, every single cell is set to "locked" until you manually change it.
To unlock all cells, simply select all cells by using Ctrl+A or clicking the little triangle in the top-left corner of cell A1. Then, go to Format Cells and uncheck the "Locked" option under the Protection tab. It may seem counterintuitive to unlock everything when you're trying to protect your formulas, but trust me, it's necessary.
Next, we need to select all the formula cells. You can do this by going to Home, Find & Select, and choosing "Formulas." This will select all the cells with formulas in them. Then, go back to Format Cells and check the "Locked" option again. This time, we want to keep the cells locked so that others can't edit the formulas.
Now, it's time to protect the sheet. Go to Review, Protect Sheet, and you'll see a variety of options. I highly recommend not using a password to protect your sheet, as it's easy to lose or break. Instead, focus on the other options such as allowing sorting and filtering. This way, you can still protect your formulas while allowing others to use certain features.
But what if you want to hide your formulas altogether? You can do this by selecting all the formula cells again, going to Format Cells, and checking the "Hidden" option. Then, when you protect the sheet, others will be able to select the locked cells, but they won't be able to see the formulas in the formula bar. This makes it much easier to navigate the spreadsheet without accidentally changing any formulas.
In conclusion, protecting formula cells in Excel is a crucial step in ensuring the integrity of your data. Remember to unlock all cells before protecting, and consider using the "Hidden" option if you want to keep your formulas completely hidden. And don't forget to check out the entire book on this topic, filled with even more helpful tips and tricks. Thanks for tuning in to the MrExcel podcast, and we'll see you next time for another informative episode.
Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: [ Ссылка ]
You can help my channel by clicking Like or commenting below: [ Ссылка ]
Table of Contents:
(00:00) Protecting Formula Cells in Excel
(00:11) Need for Protecting Sheet
(00:38) Unlocking and Locking Cells
(00:48) Protecting the Sheet
(01:15) Importance of Password Protection
(01:25) Risks of Password Protection
(02:06) Choosing Protection Options
(02:20) Allowing Sorting and Filtering
(03:03) Alternative Method for Protecting Formula Cells
(03:44) Hiding Formula Cells
(04:05) Copying and Pasting Formulas
(05:01) Recap of Episode
(05:19) Buy the Book
(05:41) Clicking Like really helps the algorithm
#excel #microsoft #microsoftexcel #exceltutorial #exceltips #exceltricks #excelmvp #freeclass #freecourse #freeclasses #excelclasses #microsoftmvp #walkthrough #evergreen #spreadsheetskills #mrexcel #spreadsheets #spreadsheet #excelhelp #accounting #tutorial #recoverexcel #excelprotection
This video answers these common search terms:
how to lock and unlock protected cells excel
how to lock cells in excel and protect sheet
how to unprotected sheet in excel
how to filter a protected excel sheet
can i password protect excel
how to disable password protection on excel spreadsheet
can i protect certain cells in excel
can you protect individual cells in excel
can you protect specific cells in excel
how do you protect an excel spreadsheet
how to protect a sheet in excel
Episode Recap:
All 16 billion cells on the sheet start out Locked
First, unlock all cells.
Select all cells using triangle northwest of A1
Ctrl+1 to display Format Cells
Go to Protection Tab and uncheck Locked
Home, Find & Select, Formulas, Ctrl+1, Locked
Review, Protect worksheet
Don't bother with a password. Easy to lose. Easy to break.
The only person who wins with a password are the Estonians who get $39
Scroll through the Protect Sheet dialog: you can choose to allow sorting, filtering
Preventing people from seeing your formulas
Choice 1: Locked, and uncheck Selected Locked Cells. Problem: strange to navigate with keys
Choice 2: Locked, Hidden, and check Select Locked Cells. Easier to navigate.
Join the MrExcel Message Board discussion about this video at [ Ссылка ]
