I want to protect certain columns in an Excel 365 spreadsheet.
I select cols H to K and follow the procedure to allow these cols to be unlocked, leaving cols A to G & L locked but what results is that cols A & L (first & last) are locked but, as well as the required unlocking of Cols H to K, cols B to G remain unlocked.
Help!
Help indeed!
Can you please explain this again ... Slowly!
Ali
Enthusiastic self-taught user of MS Excel who's always learning!
Don't forget to say "thank you" in your thread to anyone who has offered you help.
You can reward them by clicking on * Add Reputation below their user name on the left, if you wish.
Forum Rules (updated August 2023): please read them here.
Please use the correct terminology so that we can understand.
You can't protect columns. What you can do is LOCK cells in columns.
By default however and unless you've formatted the cells' Protection to be 'UNLOCKED' then the cells are already LOCKED
You can PROTECT sheets. However until you turn on SHEET PROTECTION all cells may still be changed. Think of Protection as an electric fence around a field. Unless the electricity is switched on the fence will not perform the function for which it's designed.
Now please explain using the correct terminology.
Richard Buttrey
RIP - d. 06/10/2022
If any of the responses have helped then please consider rating them by clicking the small star iconbelow the post.
I have a spreadsheet with Cols A to L and rows 1 to 20
I want to allow only Cells H2 to K20 to be edited(unlocked).
I select these cells and follow the prescribed procedure for keeping these cells unlocked while locking the sheet
However, the result I get is:
Cells H2 to K20 (my intended cols) are unlocked
but the only cells that are locked are A2 to A20 and L2 to L20
Apologies for my ignorance of Excel terminology!
How exactly are you selecting the cells when you apply the settings? Drag select? Is the whole range highlighted when you right-click?
I dar select the cells I want to have unlocked. I then right click on the selected area to unlock the sheet. Only my selected cells are highlighted. And then I Review >> Protect Sheet. That gives the incorrect result, as described previously.
That's not the correct procedure, as I suspected.
I suggest you do the following:
1. Select the entire sheet by clicking on the intersection point between A and 1.
2. With the sheet selected, right-click > Format Cells > Protection - make sure that locked is ticked.
3. Now select the region you want to unlock.
4. Repeat 2 above with this selection selected, but make sure the locked tick is removed.
5. Now protect the sheet (Review ribbon).
I followed your suggestion and problem solved. Thank you so much,
No worries! Make a note for next time.
If that takes care of your original question, please select Thread Tools from the menu link above and mark this thread as SOLVED. Thanks.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Register To Reply
Bookmarks