How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password (3 Quick Approaches)

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Often we have to share our Excel files with others. While sharing the file, it can be mishandled by others. In that case, the privacy of the data can be breached. So to share the Excel files only with the authorized persons, you should protect the Excel sheet with a password. Here, In this article, I will show you how to protect an Excel sheet with a password.


How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password: 3 Easy Ways

Assume you have an excel sheet here that contains the personal data of customers and you don’t want to breach that information anyhow. So, you want to know how to protect the Excel sheet with a password. I will show you 3 possible and easy ways to protect your Excel sheet with a password here.


1. Use the ‘Protect Sheet’ Button to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

You can simply use the ‘Protect Sheet’ option to set a password. After setting this option, you can open the files and view them only so you can’t change any data in the file. To change or add any data to this sheet, he will have to unprotect the sheet first. The steps of setting a password are shown below.

STEPS:

  • Firstly, go to the top ribbon and select Review > Protect Sheet.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

  • Here, a window will open named ‘Protect Sheet’. Now enter the password in the box. And check the boxes only those that you want to allow for others. Then, press OK.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

  • After that, a window will come again to re-enter the password. So, write the password again and press OK.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

Note: 

You can also select ‘Protect Workbook’ to protect the full workbook.

  • To unprotect the sheet, go to Review > Unprotect Sheet.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

  • Then, a window will appear and ask the password to write the password there. Now, write the password in the box and the sheet will become unprotected and you can edit the file.

Read More: Excel VBA to Protect Sheet but Allow to Select Locked Cells


2. Encrypt Excel Sheet with Password to Protect from Opening

With this method, you will need to enter a password at the time of opening. The steps are shown here:

STEPS: 

  • At first, go to File > Info. Then press on the ‘Project Workbook’ option. Then there will open a list of options. From them, press the ‘Encrypt with Password’ option.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

  • Then, a new window will appear where it will ask you to give the password. Write the password in the box and press OK.

  • Then, another box will appear which will ask you to write the password again. So, write the password and press OK.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

Notes:

  •  With this method, you have to write the password each time opening of this file.
  • You can also select ‘Protect Current Sheet’ and ‘Protect Workbook Structure’ from the options under the ‘Protect Workbook’ option. This is the same as the way of protecting the Excel sheet with the password mentioned before.

Read More: How to Password-Protect Hidden Sheets in Excel


3. Set a Password While Saving an Excel File

Without doing encryption, you can set a password in the Excel file while saving. And with this method, there you will get options to select whether you want to restrict the modify option only or you want to restrict the opening of the file. The steps of this method are described below:

STEPS:

  • First, go to File > Save as, and then go to the location or folder where you want to save. Give the file name.
  • Now look done of the opened window, and you will find an option named ‘Tools’. Press on it. It will open a drop-down menu.
  • Select ‘General Options’. Then a new window will appear.

In the ‘General Options’ window, you will find 2 options-

    1. Password to open: You should select this option if you want to restrict the opening of this file by any unauthorized person. Only the people who know the password can open the file.
    2. Password to modify: If you have no problem with the privacy of the data of this Excel file but don’t want any changes made by others then you can select this option. So only the authorized persons who have passwords can edit this file. And the other people will open the file in ‘Read only’ mode.

To Set Password Restricting the Opening of the Excel Sheet:

  • Press on the box named ‘Password to Open’ and input the password here.
  • You may or may not check the box named ‘Read-only recommended’ as you can’t open this file with read-only mode.
  • Then, press OK.

To Set Password Restricting the Modification of the Excel Sheet:

  • Press on the box named ‘Password to Modify’ and input the password here.
  • You should check the box named ‘Read-only recommended’ by this, you are allowed to open the file in read-only mode.

To Set Password Restricting the Opening of the Excel Sheet

  • After both options, another box will appear and ask you to re-type the password. So, re-enter the password here and press OK.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password

Read-only mode: Opening an Excel file in this mode won’t allow you to add or edit any data. You can only view the data. You can use the copy and paste method to create a new file to use this data.

How to Protect Excel Sheet with Password


Things to Remember

  • Using the ‘Protect Sheet’ option will protect only that sheet. If you want to protect all sheets of a workbook then select the ‘Protect Workbook’ option.
  • You can set passwords of any length, characters, or number, but keep in mind passwords are case-sensitive.
  • To unprotect the sheet, you have to enter the password.

Download Practice Workbook

Here is a sample workbook containing password-protected worksheet(s). You can open it using password 12345678.


Conclusion

In this article, I have tried to show you how to protect an Excel sheet with password. I have shown 3 easy methods to protect an Excel sheet with password, you may use any of them yourself. I hope you found this article helpful. Please, drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.


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Osman Goni Ridwan
Osman Goni Ridwan

OSMAN GONI RIDWAN is a marine engineer who loves exploring Excel and VBA programming. Programming, to him, is a time-saving tool for efficiently managing data, files, and internet tasks. He is proficient in Rhino3D, Maxsurf, C++, MS Office, AutoCAD, Excel, and VBA and goes beyond the basics. Armed with a B.Sc in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from BUET, OSMAN has transitioned into the role of a content developer. Specializing in creating technical content exclusively centered around Excel... Read Full Bio

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