Cell protection not functional when using mail merge

pschuetz 

It seems that the behavior you're experiencing might be related to the way mail merge interacts with Excel cells. While cell protection in Excel is designed to prevent direct changes, certain operations, like mail merge, might bypass these protections.

One way to address this issue is to add an extra layer of protection or validation through Excel's data validation feature. You can use data validation to restrict the type of data that can be entered into a cell, providing an additional level of control even when cell protection is bypassed.

Here's a general outline of how you might use data validation:

1. Protect the Sheet:
• Protect the entire sheet with cell protection. You can do this by going to the "Review" tab and clicking on "Protect Sheet." Choose a password if needed and specify the options you want to allow (e.g., select unlocked cells).
2. Apply Data Validation:
• For the columns where you want to enforce specific rules, use Excel's data validation feature. For example, you can set up data validation to only allow numbers, specific date ranges, or lists of values.
3. Test Your Setup:
• After protecting the sheet and applying data validation, test to see if changes made through mail merge still adhere to the data validation rules.

This combination of cell protection and data validation can provide an additional layer of control, helping to ensure that even if cell protection is bypassed, the data entered complies with the rules you've set.

Remember to thoroughly test the setup to make sure it meets your specific requirements and doesn't introduce any unintended issues. The text was revised with the AI.

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