how do i lock cells in exel

[funbox]

have done a spread sheet and want to lock multiple cells so they cant be
typed over

 

[Paul B]

funbox,
By default all cells in excel are protected or locked, select the cells you
want to unlock and go to format, cells, protection and uncheck locked, the
go to tools, protection, and protect sheet, enter a password if you want,
now only the cells that you unlocked can be edited. Be aware that this
protection is very easy to break, the code to do so can be found very easy,
but it will work for most people .

If you only need a few locked I would select them all first, Ctrl A, then
go to format, cells, protection and uncheck locked, then select the cells
you want to lock and go to format cells and check locked, the go to tools,
protection, and protect sheet, enter a password if you want, now the cells
that you locked can not be edited


--
Paul B
Always backup your data before trying something new
Please post any response to the newsgroups so others can benefit from it
Feedback on answers is always appreciated!
Using Excel 2002 & 2003

 

[jahoobob]

Format the cells you want to protect to locked protection and then
protect the worksheet.
You may have to unlock all the cells first:
Select the entire worksheet by left clicking the square in the corner
between 1 and A. Select Format, then the Protection tab, then uncheck
Locked and then OK.
Highlight the cell(s) you want to protect and repeat the above Format
step but make sure the Locked box is checked.
Select Tools, Protection, Protect Sheet, make sure the top box is
checked, enter a password, make sure the first box under the password
is not checked and the second one is and then OK.
To edit the protected cells:
Tools, Protection, Unprotect worrksheet, enter password.
Hope this helps,

 

[Susie]

I have followed all the directions on this site and it doesn't work. Once I
go in to protect the sheet, I can't change any of the cells. I only want
some of them locked and the others open for change but your directions aren't
working for me. I have 2003 version, which may have something to do with it.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Make sure the worksheet is unprotected first.
Tools|Protection|Unprotect Sheet
Then do the stuff to lock/unlock the cells
Then reprotect the worksheet
tools|Protection|Protect sheet

 

[Sandy]

I understand the lock cells feature and have read how to do this and I have
even password protected my locked cells. But, what I don't understand is that
you can actually copy my spreadsheet that is locked into another blank excel
spreadsheet and then you can unhide the columns that you have locked and
protected. This creates a problem for me as I do not want my customer's
seeing my cost on a column that I'm hiding and trying to protect. Any
suggestions?

 

[Gord Dibben]

Aside from users being able to copy the cells to another sheet or workbook
they could also simply link to those hidden data by opening a new workbook
or inserting a sheet and entering linked formulas to that sheet

The only real solution is....................

If you don't want them to see it, don't include it in the workbook.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Faiyaz]

:

I have done a spread sheet with AUTO FILTER but after locking multiple cells
the Auto Filter does not work. How I can lonk multiple cells using auto
filter?

 

[Gord Dibben]

You must unlock the contiguous range which you want to filter.

You must set the Autofilter to enabled before protecting the sheet with
"Allow users to" Use Autofilter.

Or you can use code to unprotect, do the filtering then reprotect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP