How to lock formulas in Excel

There are many ways to protect the Exce file, depending on the needs of each person such as setting a password for the entire Excel file, setting the password for the sheet on Excel so that others cannot edit it, or just setting the security key for the recipe. in Excel file only.

When you set an Excel formula lock, others cannot edit formulas, copy, or delete formulas, but other content can be edited as you wish. The following article will guide you how to lock formulas in Excel.

  1. Forgot password protected Excel file, what should you do?
  2. How to break VBA password in Excel
  3. Password setting tools for PDF files

1. Guide to protecting formulas on Excel

Step 1:

Open the Excel file with the formula to lock the recipe. Select the entire spreadsheet and then click on the Home tab , select Format and click Format Cells .

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 1

Step 2:

The Format Cells dialog box appears, click on the Protection tab, and uncheck the Locked option below. Click OK to save.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 2

Step 3:

Go back to the worksheet to mouse in any box, click on the Home tab, then select Find & Select in the Editing group. Click on Go to Special . in the list that appears.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 3

Step 4:

In the Go To Special dialog box, select Formulas and click OK to agree.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 4

Now the cells with the formula on the Excel file will be marked as shown below.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 5

Step 5:

Keep the cells with the selected formula intact. Then click on the Home tab and then choose Format to choose Format Cells . In Format Cells, select Locked and then click OK.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 6

Step 6:

Click the Review tab, then click Protect Sheet .

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 7

In the Protect Sheet dialog box, we do the following:

  1. Password to unprotect sheet: Set the password for the formula. This password will require entering if you want to remove the formula protection feature in Excel.
  2. Select locked cells: Remove this option.

You will then be asked to re-enter the set password. Finally click OK to save.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 8

When you return to the table, you will not see the formula icon in the formula cell as before. When clicking on the box does not show the formula used. Others will not be able to know and edit that recipe. Areas outside the formula can still be customized as usual.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 9

2. How to unblock Excel formulas

Step 1:

To remove the formula lock feature in Excel click on the Review tab and then select Unprotect Sheet .

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 10

Step 2:

Enter the correct formula password that the user has set up before. Click OK.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 11

Finally, the data box uses the formula that appears again and when you click on that box, the formula will appear.

How to lock formulas in Excel Picture 12

A great way to protect certain content on Excel files, but other content can still be edited as usual. When placing an Excel formula lock, viewers cannot click on the formula box and edit. This will limit the status of editing and deleting formulas on Excel.

See more:

  1. How to prevent others from copying and editing Word files
  2. How to set a password for a PDF file?
  3. 10 ways to recover corrupted Excel files

I wish you all success!

5 ★ | 1 Vote

May be interested

  • How to Copy Formulas in ExcelHow to Copy Formulas in Excel
    the excel program has a feature that makes it easy for users to copy formulas for entire rows or columns, but you don't always get the results you want. when you receive results that are not as expected or encounter #ref and /div0 errors, you will definitely feel unhappy. don't worry, though - you don't need to edit every cell in a 5,000-line spreadsheet. this article will provide some simple ways to help you copy formulas to other cells.
  • A complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 14): Create complex formulasA complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 14): Create complex formulas
    after learning about the recipe in excel 2016, tipsmake.com continues to guide you how to create more complex formulas. invite you to consult!
  • Instructions and examples of array formulas Array Formulas in ExcelInstructions and examples of array formulas Array Formulas in Excel
    the following article details array formulas and practical examples in excel to help you better understand and apply them in your work most effectively.
  • Instructions for hiding formulas in ExcelInstructions for hiding formulas in Excel
    instructions for hiding formulas in excel. you do not want anyone to know the calculation formulas in excel spreadsheets, you simply want others to manipulate the results do not want them to know the details of how to calculate the results.
  • Steps to lock columns in ExcelSteps to lock columns in Excel
    locking columns in excel with a password helps you protect columns, prevent others from changing column content or editing columns, affecting all data of the table.
  • Complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 13): Introduction to formulasComplete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 13): Introduction to formulas
    after learning about the page format and spreadsheet printing, please join tipsmake.com to learn about the introduction article in excel 2016!
  • How to fix formulas in Excel, fix data ranges in ExcelHow to fix formulas in Excel, fix data ranges in Excel
    in excel when using a formula that refers to a range of data if you use the relative address of the formula and the range will change as you move to another cell. in this article, you can help fix formulas or ranges of data referenced in excel.
  • PI (PI Function) in Excel - How to use PI numbers in ExcelPI (PI Function) in Excel - How to use PI numbers in Excel
    pi (pi function) in excel - how to use pi numbers in excel. pi number is a mathematical constant with an approximate value of 3,1415926535897 ... we can find pi numbers in many trigonometric and geometric formulas. especially the formulas related to circles, ellipses, and spheres:
  • How to insert math formulas in ExcelHow to insert math formulas in Excel
    in the learning process, you often use ms excel to calculate and process data. because of some requirements that you need to insert mathematical formulas into excel, but you do not know how to manipulate.
  • Excel errors do not jump formulas and fixesExcel errors do not jump formulas and fixes
    using excel to calculate is a familiar job for office workers. there will be times when you encounter the error of not jumping the formula when using excel without knowing what to do. in this article, tipsmake will name a few errors that cause this and help you know how to fix them.