What does it mean to lock a column in Excel?

What does it mean to lock a column in 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.

How do I hide and lock columns in Excel?

Hiding and Protecting Columns

1. Select the column you want to protect.
2. Choose Cells from the Format menu.
3. Make sure the Protection tab is displayed.
4. Make sure both the Locked and Hidden check boxes are selected.
5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.
6. With the column still selected, choose Format | Column | Hide.

How do I lock certain cells in Excel 2016?

Here’s how to lock or unlock cells in Microsoft Excel 2016 and 2013.

1. Select the cells you wish to modify.
2. Choose the “Home” tab.
3. In the “Cells” area, select “Format” > “Format Cells“.
4. Select the “Protection” tab.
5. Uncheck the box for “Locked” to unlock the cells. Check the box to lock them. Select “OK“.

How do I lock an Excel spreadsheet from editing?

Protect a Worksheet from Editing Click on the “Review” tab on the main Excel ribbon. Click “Protect Sheet.” Enter the password you would like to use to unlock the sheet in the future.

How do I permanently hide columns in Excel?

These are the steps you should follow:

1. Select the column you want to protect.
2. Choose Cells from the Format menu.
3. Make sure the Protection tab is displayed.
4. Make sure both the Locked and Hidden check boxes are selected.
5. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.
6. With the column still selected, choose Format | Column | Hide.

How do I make an Excel column read only?

Make cell as read only by protecting worksheet

1. Click the button on the top left corner of current worksheet to select the whole cells.
2. Press the Ctrl + 1 keys simultaneously to open the Format Cells dialog box.
3. Now select the cells you want to make them as read only (here I select cells of range A1:C18).

How do you unlock hidden columns in Excel?

Use F5 to jump to the locked and hidden cell, then press Ctrl+C, move to the unlocked cell, and press Ctrl+V. The contents of the locked and hidden cell are pasted in the unlocked cell. The bottom line is that it is virtually impossible to 100% protect the contents of the column so that they cannot be viewed.

How do you password protect columns in Excel?

If you are running Microsoft Excel 2010, you can password protect a workbook as follows: Click the “File” tab on the ribbon. Click “Info” in the left column. Select “Protect Workbook” in the middle column and select “Encrypt With Password”.

How do you lock rows in Excel?

1) Select the cell below the rows and to the right of the columns you want to keep visible when you scroll. 2) Select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. See More…

How do you freeze selected columns in Excel?

How to freeze columns in Excel. Freezing columns in Excel is done similarly by using the Freeze Panes commands. To freeze the first column in a sheet, click View tab > Freeze Panes > Freeze First Column. This will make the leftmost column visible at all times while you scroll to the right.