In Excel 2007 and 2010 you have the ability to protect your workbook so others can not make changes to the layout of the worksheets, the text, formats, objects, and pretty much anything else inside the workbook. When you password protect Excel you will be given an option to enter a password and select what you want to protect. With this password you can pick and chose who has the rights to edit your document, especially if you have really sensitve data. If you are not sure what sensitive data is, here is a quick explanation of it.
Sensitive data can be anything that has personal information. This includes, but not limited to, social security numbers, address, phone number, or anything else you don’t want anybody getting there hands on. Here is a really good explanation of what sensitive data could be.
How to Password Protect Excel
First things first is to open Excel 2007 and go to the Review tab. Under the Review tab find the Protect Workbook icon and click it. This will open the Protect Structure and Windows prompt.
By defalut Structure is selected. With Structure selected Excel will not let anyone mess around with the sheets in the workbook. No deleting or rearranging as long as the Structure option is checked. If you wanted to you can also check the Windows options. This protects the workbooks windows from being resized or moved around.
After you made your choices select OK or enter a password for more security. You will need to retype the password again.
How to Remove Password Protection from Excel
To remove the protection you just created earlier just go back to the Review tab and select the Protect Workbook and select Protect Structure and Windows. If you added a password you will be prompted to enter it before the workbook is unprotected.
That is it. Now you can protect and unprotect your Excel workbooks and worksheets. If you have any other question please feel free to go to and post in our forums.
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