How to set Excel password to secure data file

Email inboxes, social network accounts, even technology devices - almost anything important is protected by some kind of password. If you use Excel spreadsheets for any reason, you should also consider adding a password to protect it.

Setting up Excel password has many ways, from simple to use Excel's built-in password feature to use VBA. Whether you want to restrict access to the entire document, or simply prevent certain people from making changes to the file, it only takes a minute or two to set up the password. If your spreadsheet falls into the wrong hands, the results can be extremely tragic. So, you should take the time to find your solution. Below TipsMake.com will show you the most basic ways to protect your Excel file.

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How to set password to protect Excel file within a minute

Excel makes it easy to encrypt spreadsheets by locking your password. You just need to follow three simple steps:

1. Navigate to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password .

2. Enter the password you want and click OK .

3. Confirm your password.

However, depending on what you are trying to protect, the exact method you use may vary slightly.

Encrypt an Excel document

The most common method to perform password protection on an Excel spreadsheet is through encryption . This means that whenever someone opens a file, they must enter the password.

Open your document and navigate to File > Info > Protect Workbook .

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Select Encrypt with Password from the drop-down menu, then enter the password you want into the next dialog box.

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After that, you need to re-enter the password. The next time you open the document, you will be prompted to enter your password to continue.

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This should be done on the keyboard and not read aloud, make sure you don't forget the password . Completing without having access to an important spreadsheet can cause some serious problems.

Allow access to read

Basic encryption settings are quite simple, but Excel really provides flexibility when it comes to password protection. For example, if you want someone to open the document, but ask them to enter the password when they want to edit. This type of protection system is easy to implement.

Click File > Save As > More options .

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Click the Tools button and select General Options from the drop-down menu.

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Here, you will see two different fields: Password to open and Password to modify . You can leave the second field blank if you want to restrict editing rights without restricting access to the document. When finished, just click OK .

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The next time you open the document, you will receive a slightly different password reminder, as shown above.

Spreadsheet protection

If your document has more than one sheet, you may want to restrict editing rights to one or more sheets.

Scroll to the Review tab and click Protect Sheet .

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Here, you can enter the desired password for the current sheet.

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However, you will notice that there are a variety of check boxes that will allow all users to access certain functions. This can be useful if you want to give them the ability to sort columns, such as not making any changes.

1. Create passwords for File and Folder protection on Android
2. 3 ways to password protect USB drive data

Add a password using VBA

One last situation: your spreadsheet uses VBA macros and you want to allow anyone to edit the document itself, but add some protection to the code you wrote. Here's how to do it.

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Create a new Macro . You can choose whatever name you want, I use "password" as a placeholder.

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For the purpose of this tutorial, I will use the following code:

However, in fact you will only use the Macro you are trying to protect. In Visual Basic Editor , navigate to Tools > VBAProject Properties .

On the Protection tab, you will see a check box that allows project locking to view. In addition, there are fields where you can add password protection to access project properties.

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You should note that although this type of protection may be useful, there are certain limitations. Read the Excel VBA password recovery and recovery guide if you want to know how to easily remove a password, as long as you have the right tools for the job.

Self-protection

When it comes to an important spreadsheet, it is better to "take care of the pros".

Many workplaces use a shared Excel document to perform all kinds of jobs. Whether it is a time chart or interactive dashboard, there can also be unwanted consequences if outsiders can access.

It only takes a few seconds to enter the password, it is worth it . Take the time to see if you really need to protect the entire document or just specific parts and you will ensure any inconvenience.

Besides, it will definitely be more inconvenient if someone sneaks into your spreadsheet, deletes all data and overwrites the file.

Do you have a tip on how to add a password to an Excel document? Or are you looking for help with one of the methods described in this article? Either way, why don't you join the conversation in the comments below?

Refer to some more articles:

1. Forgot password protected Excel file, what should you do?
2. How to create a password protection for Excel sheets
3. Set password to protect and encrypt documents in Office 2013

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