The Secret To Protecting Your Excel Files

.Dear Computer Lady,

I keep up on your great Q&A in the Weekly Sentinel.

Here’s my question: How can I protect an Excel spreadsheet from being opened without a password?

Thank you for any information, Lisa

Dear Lisa,

It is fairly simple to password protect your spreadsheet in Excel, but before we get started, I want to warn you that if you lose or forget the password, the spreadsheet will be lost to you forever.

First, decide on a password, and write it down for future reference.

Next, open your spreadsheet and click on the “File” tab in the ribbon. (I’m working in Excel 2013, your version might be a little different)

In the “Info” section, find the icon that says, “Protect Workbook” and click on it to display more options.

In the Protect Workbook drop-down list, click on, “Encrypt With Password”. This will open a small dialog box. Enter your password, click “OK” and repeat the password and “OK”

Now, close your spreadsheet and when you see the dialog box asking if you want to save your changes, click “Yes”. If you don’t save your changes, the password protection will be lost.

From now on, when you open the spreadsheet, you will need to enter your password before the contents will appear.

Elizabeth

 

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Elizabeth Boston is a Web designer, Social Media Consultant and managing editor of, “Ask The Computer Lady”.
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