To protect your workbook, click on the
Review
tab of the ribbon and click on the
Protect Workbook
tool in the
Changes
group. Excel then will show you the
Protect Structure and Windows
dialog box.
The two check boxes in the dialog box enable you to define exactly what you want protected in the workbook. Here is what each choice does:
- Structure. This will prevent any changes to the worksheets. A user cannot add new ones, delete existing ones, change their names or the order of any worksheets.
- Windows. This will stop a user from moving any windows that are being used in the workbook.
At the bottom of the dialog box you can specify a password to use for this level of protection. When you click the OK button Excel asks you to repeat any password you specified. If you did not provide a password, then Excel protects your workbook directly.
If you later want to remove the protection applied to a workbook, you do so by following the same steps you used to protect it. To unprotect your workbook, click on the Review tab of the ribbon and click on theProtect Workbook tool in the Changes group. If you used a password to protect the workbook, Excel displays the Unprotect Workbook dialog box. At this point, all you need to do is enter the correct password and the workbook is unprotected.
Note that protecting a workbook without protecting the worksheets it contains provides you with little protection. Even though a user cannot delete a worksheet in a protected workbook, they can delete the information in the worksheet. Workbook protection does not protect the contents of your workbook at any level "lower" than individual worksheets.
