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KirkExcel's avatar
KirkExcel
Copper Contributor
Sep 10, 2024

Excel not password protecting VBA page properly...

Whenever I try to hide sheets and then password protect them in the VBA page it never works. Whenever I go back into the VBA page it just gives me immediate and full access without prompting me for a...
excel
Macros and VBA
Hermes_Santos14's avatar
Hermes_Santos14
Copper Contributor
Sep 11, 2024

kirkbiddlecombe 

 

You can use VBA to set the sheets as "Very Hidden," which means they can't be unhidden through Excel's normal interface (not even via the "Unhide" option). Here's how:

  1. Open the VBA Editor (press Alt + F11).
  2. On the left side, in the project explorer, select the sheet you want to hide.
  3. In the "Properties" pane (press F4 if it's not visible), find the Visible property.
  4. Change the Visible property from -1 - xlSheetVisible to 2 - xlSheetVeryHidden.

Next, you should protect the VBA project with a password to prevent anyone from modifying the sheet settings without access to the code:

  1. In the VBA Editor, click Tools > VBAProject Properties.
  2. In the window that appears, go to the Protection tab.
  3. Check the box Lock project for viewing.
  4. Enter and confirm a password.
  5. Click OK and close the VBA Editor.
  6. Save and close the Excel file. (XLSM)

 

Now, when someone tries to open the VBA Editor (by pressing Alt + F11), they will be prompted to enter the password before they can view the code or change the visibility of the sheets.

kirkbiddlecombe's avatar
kirkbiddlecombe
Copper Contributor
Sep 11, 2024
It's so strange, because I have tried exactly this, setting the sheets to "VeryHidden" and then setting the password, saving, closing and re-opening but still it does not work.
I am wondering whether my Excel is broken.
Is there a workaround do you know? Like a VBA script I can write that will hide/lock the sheets somehow?
  • Hermes_Santos14's avatar
    Hermes_Santos14
    Copper Contributor
    Sep 11, 2024

    kirkbiddlecombe 

     

    A silly question, but I need to know: Are you saving your spreadsheet macro-enabled (XLSM)?

     

    Here are some examples you can use:

    https://trumpexcel.com/excel-vba/hide-unhide-sheet/

    https://trumpexcel.com/hide-worksheet/

     

     

     

    • m_tarler's avatar
      m_tarler
      Bronze Contributor
      Sep 11, 2024

      so it seems you have 2 different things here:

      a) VBA protection - this only protects the VBA code from being editted or not

      b) workbook protection - this is needed to prevent user from changing the overall structure of the workbook including hiding and unhiding sheets

      as to why your VBA protection is not working I'm not sure but even if the protection is on you can still use the immediate window to hide or unhide a sheet or run macros you wrote to do the same.

      to hide a sheet and stop it from showing you need to hide the sheet then enable workbook protection

      this is under the Review tab:

       

      EDIT: BTW I did some testing and if you try to turn on the VBA protection but do NOT have any macros/VBA code in the file, excel ignores it (I guess because there is no code to protect)  Again, VBA protection does NOT protect from executing code, only from reading and/or modifying code that exists (and I wouldn't entrust that protection to anything too valuable/risky. e.g. don't embed your back account info in there or your patent pending next gen AI code and believe it is safe from malicious prying eyes)

       

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