Excel: how to prevent editing certain cells?

Question

I'm going to make an excel file that many people will share and edit. Is it possible to prevent other people from editing (messing up) certain cells? Thanks!

Answer 1

protect those certain cells.

Answer 2

yes, you'll have to "unprotect" the cells you want them to edit.  Then "protect" the worksheet.

by default all cells are "locked".  But the locked feature doesn't happen until you "protect" the worksheet.

so first thing...on the cells you want users to change, right-click the cell, select Format cells then select the Protection tab.  Uncheck the box that locks the cell.  This cell will now be "unlocked".

once you've unlocked all the cells you want, now you have to turn the protection feature on (and all the other cells will now be "locked" and nobody can edit them).

to "protect" the sheet, go to the Home riboon.  Drop the down the Format options.  Select Protect Sheet.  There are various options (levels of protecton) you can select.  You can also add a password so someone can't un-protect the sheet without the password.  (FYI; passwords are case sensitive so be sure and remember how you entered it or you won't be able to un-protect it in the future if you need to make changes).

this protection feature will work on any version of excel