Password Protect Excel 2010

How to Password Protect Excel 2010 from Opening/Editing

Password protecting your Excel worksheet can prevent others from tampering with your data and it is extremely important today. Luckily, Microsoft Excel has the built-in feature to protect your work, whether it’s to prevent someone from opening a workbook, granting Read-Only access to a workbook, or just protecting a worksheet from modifying. Now let’s see the details.

Part 1: How to Password Protect An Excel 2010 Worksheet from Opening?

You can easily set a password for the Excel file to prevent others from accessing to the workbook with Info Command in Excel 2010.

• Open the Excel file you want to encrypt and click File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password.

• When the Encrypt Document dialog box pops out, type your password into the Password text box. click OK and reenter the password in the Confirm Password dialog box.

Part 2: How to Password Protect An Excel 2010 Worksheet from Editing?

Want to make an Excel spreadsheet “Read Only” for other people? You can easily set a password to prevent other users from modifying the workbook with the Save As function in Excel 2010.

• In the Excel file, click File > Save As.
• In the Save As dialog box, go to the folder you want to use, then click Tools and then click General Options.

• You can set two passwords on the file - one to open the file as read-only, and the other to modify the file. Enter your password in the Password to open text box, click OK button and then confirm the password again. Click Save to save the workbook with its password.

Part 3: How to Password Protect An Excel 2010 Workbook Structure?

Excel 2010 also offer you an option to protect the structure of your Excel workbook with a password. Thus. Others cannot view hidden worksheets, add, move, delete, or hide worksheets, and rename worksheets.

• Click Review > Changes > Protect Workbook. The Structure check box is selected by default. You can also select the Windows option if you want to prevent users from moving, resizing, or closing the workbook window, or hide/unhide windows.
• Enter a password in the Password box. Click OK, and retype the password to confirm it.

Part 4: How to Password Protect Cell Data in Excel 2010?

In Excel 2010 or later, you can can lock the cells on your Excel worksheet and then password protect the sheet so that other users cannot change, move, or delete data in a worksheet.

By default, all cells are locked. But, locking cells has no effect until you protect the worksheet. So when you protect a worksheet, all your cells (=worksheet) will be locked. So if you want to lock a cell, you have to unlock all cells first, lock a cell, and then protect the sheet.

• In your Excel file, select the worksheet tab that you want to protect.
• Select the cells that others can edit. Right click, and then click Format Cells (or use Ctrl+1, or Command+1 on the Mac). On the Protection tab, uncheck the Locked check box and click OK.

• Click Review > Changes > Protect Sheet. In the Allow all users of this worksheet to list, select the elements you want people to be able to change.

• If you want to assign a password that must be supplied before you can remove the protection from the worksheet, Enter a password in the Password to unprotect sheet box and click OK.

That’s all for how to password protect your Excel file from opening or modifying. Pick the way you prefer to, and encrypt your Excel 2010 spreadsheet now.

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