Forum Discussion
Protecting a sheet, but allowing some alterations by others
Hello all,
Yes, you are correct - I'm a complete noob, but have found Excel helpful in a similar situation, so I thought I would try it again. However, I want to be able to share the sheet I've made, and allow others to change the information in some of the cells, but not allow the sheet layout to be altered in any way.
I've pretty much just "drawn" a warehouse layout and want others to be able to delete the information in a cell - i.e. if they remove a pallet named 705060 from position 1A and move it to position 6F, and then type the pallet name - 705060 - at the new location, but not be able to change anything else than the information in the cells I determine. I'm guessing I should protect the sheet, but how do I select which cells to allow alteration and which not to?? Is it even possible?
Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Rex
It appears from the Microsoft documentation that this feature is not available in Excel for Mac, or for versions before 2016. (Maybe it was available in older versions, but was so weak that they no longer promote it for older versions.) Otherwise…
There is a Locked attribute that each cell has. By default, the value is True (locked). When you protect the worksheet (assuming default options), all cells with Locked=True are not editable. So before you protect the worksheet, select the cells you want to be editable (individually and/or in groups), press Ctrl + 1 to quickly get the "Format Cells" dialog; switch to the Protection tab (shown here) and uncheck the Locked checkbox. Click OK to preserve the new value.When you protect the worksheet, you have the option of specifying a password that must be used to unprotect it. Whether you use a password depends on how much you trust your colleagues. (Are you concerned about intentional inappropriate updates? Use a password. Or do you just want to protect against accidental inappropriate updates? Don't bother.) But if you do use a password, make a secure copy that you will not lose; and be careful to enter it the same way each time you need to unprotect + make unusual edits + re-protect.
Or you can protect the entire workbook, which requires a password and results in stronger resistance to hacking.Truly appreciate the help. I tried to go forward as you suggested, but can't seem to get it to work the way I envisioned. And yes, I do trust my colleagues. I was more concerned about unintentional editing of the sheet, i.e. moving a row or more than one cell to a new location - stuff like that. And mostly because I've done it myself, so you know... Butterfingers.
