Protecting and Unprotecting a Workbook

Excel provides several levels of protection for your sensitive work. Here are some ways you can protect your workbooks. You can protect:

• A workbook from being opened by unauthorized personnel.
• A workbook from being saved with the same filename.
• A workbook’s structure (control the manipulation of worksheets in a workbook).
• A workbook’s windows (control the sizing and positioning of a workbook’s windows and any workbook views you create)

You should write down any passwords you use and store them in a safe location. If you forget or lose your passwords, you won’t be able to undo the areas you protected by any normal means.

Safeguarding your workbook from unauthorized users

Follow these steps to restrict unauthorized personnel from opening or modifying a workbook:

1. Open a workbook or select an already opened workbook you want to protect and then click the Office button and choose Save As. Excel displays the Save As dialog box.
2. Click Tools and choose General Options from the menu. Excel displays the General Options dialog box.
3. In the Password to Open text box, enter a password that must be used before a user can open the workbook.
4. In the Password to Modify text box, enter a password that must be used before a user can save the workbook under the same filename. Passwords can be up to 15 characters and are case sensitive.
5. Click OK. Excel asks you to reenter the passwords for confirmation then reenter the passwords. Windows XP: In the Save In drop-down, select the folder in which to save the workbook and then click Save. Windows Vista: If the Folders window isn’t displayed, click Browse Folders, click Folders to display the Folders window, and then select the folder in which to save the document. Then click Save.
6. If you’re saving the workbook with the same name, respond when Excel displays a message asking you to confirm overwriting the file.

To remove passwords from the workbook, follow the previous steps, except delete the passwords in Step 4, Step 5, or both.
If you are using a workbook saved in an earlier version of Excel, Excel 2007 displays a message offering to convert the workbook to the Office XML file format (the default file format) before you save the workbook with passwords. You should choose to accept the suggestion only if you will not be sharing the workbook with users who have earlier versions of Excel. The General Options dialog box offers other safeguarding options. Select the Always Create a Backup check box if you want Excel to always save a backup copy of the existing workbook before you save the workbook. If you select the Read Only Recommended check box, when the workbook is opened, Excel displays a message suggesting that the workbook be opened as read only. The user, however, can choose to ignore the suggestion.

Protecting and unprotecting a workbook structure or window

To protect a workbook structure or window properties from accidental or intentional alteration, follow these steps:

• Click the Review tab on the Ribbon and then click the Protect Workbook button. Excel displays the Protect Workbook dialog box. Select the appropriate check box(es), as follows:
  Structure prevents any of the following changes to a workbook sheet: adding, deleting, moving, renaming, hiding, or unhiding.
  Windows protects the workbook window from being moved or resized.
  
• If you feel that you need a high level of protection, supply a password in the Password text box, and click OK. When Excel requests that you reenter the password for confirmation, do so and then Click OK.

To unprotect a workbook structure or window, click the Review tab on the Ribbon and then click the Unprotect Workbook button. If you did not supply a password when the workbook was protected, Excel unprotects the workbook automatically. Otherwise, Excel prompts you to enter a password.