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fjbruni's avatar
fjbruni
Copper Contributor
Jan 21, 2020

Saving an Excel file as a password-protected pdf

I have been using Excel in Office 2016 (and earlier versions of Excel) for many years on Windows 7.  I recently upgraded to Win 10.  I have an Excel file that is password protected.  For years I have...
excel
Abiola1's avatar
Abiola1
MVP
Jan 21, 2020
You can re-apply password to the workbook.

1. Click on the File tab
2. Click on Info
3. Protect Workbook dropdown
4. Encrypt with Password

Then you enter the password twice. Save and close the Workbook
Next time you open the workbook, it will request for password.

I hope this answers your question
fjbruni's avatar
fjbruni
Copper Contributor
Jan 21, 2020

Abiola1 

Hi Abiola,

Thanks for the reply.  My problem is not with the password-protected Excel file.  My problem is with the pdf file.  When it saves as a pdf, the password protection is eliminated.  If I want to pay Adobe an exorbitant fee, I can rent the function on Adobe, but I would rather have it come through as part of Excel.

As I said, I have used the “Save As PDF” function on Excel for years, and it has always kept the password used on the Excel file.  Now, after installing Windows 10 on my computer, it doesn’t.

Frank

  • BobBloemen's avatar
    BobBloemen
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 14, 2022

    fjbruni - just ran into the same issue.  In Word I can save to PDF and password protect it, but in Excel I can't.  Did you ever figure out how to do it?

    • Len7700's avatar
      Len7700
      Copper Contributor
      May 27, 2022

      BobBloemen After saving it as a PDF, upload and download it from this website to password protect it:  https://smallpdf.com/protect-pdf 

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