Ever thought of securing your excel worksheets with passwords or ever tried to do so. I tried and found some simple ways to protect my excel documents from unauthorized access.
MS Excel worksheets can be secured with 5 different methods:
The security feature proves beneficial for different individuals from different walks of life, like accountants, brokers, stenos CA’s etc.
Password types of MS Excel:
1.Password to open the Worksheet
2.Password for Modifications
3.VBA Modules
4.Worksheet Password
5.Workbook Password
1.) Password to open the Worksheet:
I generally assign password to worksheets, so that no one can access my excel file. To do this I follow this;
a) Open the .xls document
b) Select the Save As option from the File menu.
c) Click the Tools tab on the top of the “Save As” window and select the General Options… option.
d) The Save Options window will now be displayed, where you can enter the desired password in the Password to open text box.
Wow, now if any one tries to open the worksheet, Microsoft Excel will ask to enter the password. If the password is incorrect the sheet will not open.
2.) Password for Modifications:
This works as similar to the first one. As I had assigned password to stop opening of the worksheet, here I can allow the person to read content of my file but restrict him from modifying it. The process is same, but be cautious as the document can be saved by the Save As option and can be modified.
a) Open the .xls document
b) Select the Save As option from the File menu.
c) Click the Tools tab on the top of the “Save As” window and select the General Options… option.
d) The Save Options window will be displayed, where you can enter the desired password in the Password to modify text box.
This password protection proves helpful when you want to display the read-only content to the user, where he cannot modify anything - saving the original data.
3.) VBA Modules:
The excel worksheet can contain VBA modules with added macros in the file. This Visual Basic for Application module can also be password protected. To password protect do this;
a) Select the VBA module and click the right mouse button.
b) Select the VBA Project Properties… option.
c) Click the Protection tab
d) In this window, check the Lock project for viewing option and assign password in the
e) Password to view project properties dialogue box.
f) Click OK.
Now your VBA module is password protected and secure from any unauthorized use.
4.) Worksheet Password:
I usually work on different worksheets simultaneously and then password protect the most important worksheet. My friends then only can view those worksheets which are not password protected.
To assign password to any worksheet, do this;
a) Click the Tools menu
b) Select the Protection > Protect Sheet option. The Protect Sheet window will appear.
c) Select amongst the number of options for your worksheet. (These options depend on the
d) working version of MS Excel; I am working in MS Excel 2003)
e) After selecting the options you can assign password to the worksheet.
Thus your worksheet is protected with password.
5.) Workbook Password:
Like Worksheets, excel workbooks can also be protected in the similar way of protecting worksheets.
a) Click the Tools menu
b) Select the Protection > Protect Workbook option. The Protect Workbook window will be displayed.
c) Select both or appropriate option from Structure and Windows and assign the password.
You can also try this:
a) Click the Tools menu.
b) Select the Protection > Protect and Share Workbook… option. The Protect Shared
c) Workbook window will be displayed. This enables you to share the workbook with track changes.
d) Check the Sharing with track changes option. This would activate the Password text box.
Assign password in the Password text box.
This kind of password protection helps when you are sharing the excel worksheets on network. This would restrict others from making changes in the document and retains the track changes in the sheet.
I think these are the best security measures for people working on MS Excel documents. But at times these worksheets get corrupt or inaccessible due to virus attacks, file corruptions and other unknown reasons. At this point of time you can trust an excel file repair software to recover the corrupt excel sheets.
Now your VBA module is password protected and secure from any unauthorized use.
4.) Worksheet Password:
I usually work on different worksheets simultaneously and then password protect the most important worksheet. My friends then only can view those worksheets which are not password protected.
To assign password to any worksheet, do this;
a) Click the Tools menu
b) Select the Protection > Protect Sheet option. The Protect Sheet window will appear.
c) Select amongst the number of options for your worksheet. (These options depend on the
d) working version of MS Excel; I am working in MS Excel 2003)
e) After selecting the options you can assign password to the worksheet.
Thus your worksheet is protected with password.
5.) Workbook Password:
Like Worksheets, excel workbooks can also be protected in the similar way of protecting worksheets.
a) Click the Tools menu
b) Select the Protection > Protect Workbook option. The Protect Workbook window will be displayed.
c) Select both or appropriate option from Structure and Windows and assign the password.
You can also try this:
a) Click the Tools menu.
b) Select the Protection > Protect and Share Workbook… option. The Protect Shared
c) Workbook window will be displayed. This enables you to share the workbook with track changes.
d) Check the Sharing with track changes option. This would activate the Password text box.
Assign password in the Password text box.
This kind of password protection helps when you are sharing the excel worksheets on network. This would restrict others from making changes in the document and retains the track changes in the sheet.
I think these are the best security measures for people working on MS Excel documents. But at times these worksheets get corrupt or inaccessible due to virus attacks, file corruptions and other unknown reasons. At this point of time you can trust an excel file repair software to recover the corrupt excel sheets.
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