Forum Discussion
Locking cells in Excel Online? Is it possible?
Microsoft's website claims that the online version of Excel has a feature that will allow you to lock certain cells so that they can't be accidentally overwritten, but it doesn't explain how to do it.
I've been searching for an answer for quite a while, but I can't find any specific info about how to do this. All the tutorials I've seen reference the desktop version of Excel only.
Can anyone shed some light on this? Thank you.
You have to apply the protection in the desktop version (for Windows or Mac). If you then upload the workbook to the cloud and open it in Excel Online, the protection will still work.
(Protecting is a two-step process:
- Unlock the cells that should be editable in the Protection tab of the Format Cells dialog.
- Protect the worksheet on the Review tab of the ribbon.)
Excel for the web can’t lock cells or specific areas of a worksheet.
If you want to lock cells or protect specific areas, click Open in Excel and lock cells to protect them or lock or unlock specific areas of a protected worksheet.
Thank you for your understanding and patience
When can we expect the locking feature to be added to Excel for the Web?
A long road has been covered since Excel Online was first presented.
What was not possible then is possible today.
What is not possible today may be possible tomorrow :).
When and if it will be possible, I can't tell you either.
But innovations are always being integrated into Excel Online.
Check out the Microsoft Excel Blog regularly, updates are constantly being presented there.
Subscribe to the Excel Blog to get the latest product announcements and updates 🙂
You have to apply the protection in the desktop version (for Windows or Mac). If you then upload the workbook to the cloud and open it in Excel Online, the protection will still work.
(Protecting is a two-step process:
- Unlock the cells that should be editable in the Protection tab of the Format Cells dialog.
- Protect the worksheet on the Review tab of the ribbon.)
- Thank you!
Hey, I've set up some access premissions like this - opened and created in excel app, apply access rights to all cells but one section allowing user 1 access and not user 2.
On this other section I've allowed user 2 rights to access. All works well in the excel app - however when this is opened through teams, it will always ask for the password to be given.
Is there a way around this?
Solved this one today. All the other comments only partially solve our problem. We had several protected sheets with specific cells locked, but there one sheet would not lock when Excel file open in Teams. Setting the protection was only part of the solution.
With Excel file open in Teams. Go to Review tab > Manage Protection > (enter password if password protected) > Protect Sheet (on) > Unlocked Ranges (none).
The key was Unlocked Ranges.
Removing any ranges listed in the Unlocked Ranges section solved it.
Hope this helps someone because it took ages to figure this one out.- This worked nicely! Thank you!
If you want to keep your data locked away from others, you can do so using Microsoft Excel Online.
- First, open Microsoft Excel Online.
- Then click the File tab and select Options.
- On the Options dialog box, click the Protection tab.
- Under Lock Cells, select the lock type that you want to use.
For more detailed article you may check out this blog post: https://www.dancingnumbers.com/how-to-lock-cells-in-microsoft-excel/
Where do you see a "Protection tab" in File > Options in Excel Online?
(There is nothing about Excel Online in the blog page you refer to)
HansVogelaar Only works on desktop version
- Even if a lot of time is passed, i've fuond the solution going into "Review" tab and then "Manage protection" (for me it's the last button on the right), from there i can unblock specific ranges when i apply the protection into the sheet.
- Whilst it's possible using Review>Manage Protection>Unlocked ranges, it isn't as straightforward as the desktop app. In the desktop, you can clear the protection lock for everything then just lock the individual cells, rows or columns that I want to (or vice versa). In Excel online, you have to add the ranges that you do want to be edited. If I just want one cell locked, eg E5, I'd have to add the ranges around it, eg A:D, F:??, 1:4 and 6:??.
Tom_M_1969 at my work we now moved everything to onedrive and use the browser version of excel. Although the locked sheet is in place, on the desktop version when I pressed TAB excel took me to the next unlocked cell andkeystrokes. the locked cells. I did this intentionally as these unlocked input cells pulled info from another sheet.
In the browser locked version the TAB key still navigates to the adjacent locked cell and I have to press TAB or ARROW keys multiple times when I used to be able to do so with one keystroke. So what used to be a couple of dozen keystrokes in a work shift is more 150-200. That lacks efficency. I haven't found a way to fix this issue.
Not sure when this was added, but I do see the option for it now in Excel Online. If you select a cell or a range of cells and click the "Review" Tab, there is a toolbar button for "Protection" that allows you to protect the sheet and then define which rages are allowed to be edited, as well as specify a sheet protection password to allow people with that password to edit protected parts of the sheet.
