How do you protect a worksheet or a specific range in Excel?

Instruction: Describe how to keep input cells editable while protecting formulas, then explain what sheet protection does and does not protect.

Context: Assesses Excel cell-locking and sheet-protection workflows while distinguishing edit prevention from file encryption and access permissions.

Updated

Official answer available

Read the opening below, then unlock the full answer and practical guidance.

Worksheet protection controls editing of locked cells; it is not a confidentiality or access-control boundary. Someone who can open the workbook can still read its contents. Use file encryption and appropriate storage/sharing permissions when access to the data must be restricted.

In desktop Excel, cells are normally marked Locked by default, but that setting is enforced only after the sheet is protected...

Related Questions