Protect Excel Formula Cells
Learning how to Protect the Excel Worksheet Cells that contain Formulas is a three-step process. This process tends to confuse and frustrate many Excel users. Some of the steps seem counter-intuitive when you first begin the process. That is why I created this video tutorial – To demonstrate each of the steps; to remove the confusion.
First, I show you how this is done in Excel 2010 / Excel 2007. Next, I show you how to protect the Formula Cells in Excel 2003.
Key Concept for Protecting Formula Cells
By default, all cells in an Excel Workbook are “Locked!”
So, if you are going to allow a user to input current values in the worksheet, you must first “select” the input cells and then, “Unlock” them.
Protecting Excel Worksheet
The final step in the process is to Protect the Worksheet. I rarely use a password for the worksheet because I tend to forget it and then I cannot even access the protected worksheet!
Take care in the Protect Sheet Dialog Box to select only the options that best suit your purpose. For example, in this video tutorial, I choose to limit users to select only the cells that I unlocked in steps 1 and 2.
Go To Special Dialog Box
The quickest way to select the cells that you wish to “unlock” is to open the Go To Special Dialog Box. There, choose “Constants.” You can limit the constants to “Numbers” as I do in this tutorial.
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Watch Tutorial in High Definition
Follow this link to view this Excel Tutorial in High Definition on my YouTube Channel – DannyRocksExcels
