Why lock cells in excel

We do so because it's fast, and it works independent of any previous, current, or future release of Excel. We will note that in Excel and newer versions, some of the formatting options can be found on the ribbon. For example, "alignment" and "number" options are on the Home tab.

A KeynoteSupport. A Locked cell cannot be formatted, nor can its contents be changed or deleted. This is a great feature for preventing complex formulas and functions from being accidentally erased. But even though cells may be locked, the "locking" doesn't go into effect until the user also protects the worksheet. In order for the contents of a cell to be safe from being accidentally deleted, the cell must be locked AND the worksheet or entire workbook protected.

In all Excel spreadsheets, all cells are locked by default. However, most users won't want every cell locked unless none of the cells, including those containing data, will ever need updating. For dynamic worksheets where data will be frequently updated, some cells will need to be unlocked to make the whole idea of protection sensible.

Instead of trying to unlock individual cells that don't need protection, the easiest way is to first unlock all of the cells, and then lock just those cells containing mathematical equations, functions, or data cells that will never be changed.

To unlock all worksheet cells in one step, click in the top-left cell of the worksheet, as shown in the image, to select all of the worksheet cells. Then right-click, select "Format cells The Protection tab is shown below. The next step is to lock just those cells that contain precious contents.

Click in a cell, right-click to get to the Format Options window, and check "Locked" on the Protection tab. Contiguous cells can be formatted in one step by highlighting the entire range and then locking.

Non-contiguous cells can be locked in one step by pressing and holding the CTRL key while selecting the individual cells. Then don't forget to protect the worksheet as explained below. As mentioned above, cell locking doesn't go into effect until the worksheet is protected. Display or hide formulas. Follow these steps to lock cells in a worksheet: Select the cells you want to lock. Need more help?

Expand your skills. Get new features first. Was this information helpful? Yes No. Thank you! Any more feedback? The more you tell us the more we can help. Can you help us improve? Resolved my issue. Clear instructions. Editor's Note: This tutorial was written for Excel , but still applies to modern versions of Excel.

By default, when you protect cells in a sheet or workbook, all of the cells will be locked. This means they can't be reformatted or deleted, and the content in them can't be edited. By default, the locked cells can be selected, but you can change that in the protection options. Click Protect Sheet. In the Protect Sheet window, enter a password that's required to unprotect the sheet optional and any of the actions you want to allow users.

The cells can only be unlocked when the sheet is unprotected by going to the Review tab again, choosing "Unprotect Sheet," and entering the password, if required. There might be times when you want to lock certain cells from being changed but still allow users to adjust other cells in a worksheet. In our example, in an inventory list you might allow unit prices and stock quantities to be updated, but not the item IDs, names, or descriptions.

As mentioned above, all cells are locked by default when you protect the sheet.