Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: How to lock cells for protection in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010
• Method 2 of 2: How to lock cells in Excel 2003
• Tips

Locking cells in Excel means preventing accidental changes to the text that is in them. The lock can be removed at any time. Read on to learn how to do this in Microsoft Excel 2010, 2007 and 2003.

To learn how to unlock cells, refer to the article "How to open a password protected Excel file".

Steps

Method 1 of 2: How to lock cells for protection in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010

1. 1 Open the Excel spreadsheet that contains the cells you want.
2. 2 Select the cells you want to block.
3. 3 Right-click on the cells and select Format.
4. 4 Click on the "Protection" tab.
5. 5 Check the box next to "Block".
6. 6 Click OK.
7. 7 Click on the View tab in the menu bar at the top of the page.
8. 8 Click on the "Protect page / document" button in the "Changes" group.
9. 9 Check the box next to "Protect Document and Locked Cells Content".
10. 10 Enter your password in the Unprotect Password text box.
11. 11 Click OK.
12. 12 Enter the password again in the next field.
13. 13 Click OK. The cells you selected will be locked.

Method 2 of 2: How to lock cells in Excel 2003

1. 1 Open an Excel spreadsheet.
2. 2 Select the cells you want to block.
3. 3 Right-click on the selected cells and choose Format.
4. 4 Click on the "Protection" tab.
5. 5 Check the box next to "Block".
6. 6 Click OK.
7. 7 Click on the "Tools" tab in the menu bar at the top of the page.
8. 8 Select "Protection" from the list of options.
9. 9 Click on "Protect Document".
10. 10 Check the box next to "Protect document and contents of locked cells."
11. 11 Enter your password in the Password field and click OK.
12. 12 Enter the password again to confirm.
13. 13 Click OK. All cells will be protected.

Tips

• If several users use the document, you can lock the cells so that no one accidentally changes their contents.
• If most of the cells in your Excel document contain valuable data or complex formulas, you can lock (protect) the entire document and then unlock those few cells that you can change.