
Use a password to control who can open or edit your Workbook A “workbook” refers to an Excel file that contains multiple worksheets. In Microsoft Excel, a “worksheet” refers to a single-page spreadsheet with various cells. Alternatively, you can lock specific worksheets with a password, ensuring that other people can’t change anything by mistake. You can set a password to control who can open an Excel file, and whether they should have read-only or full editing access. There are many ways to protect your Excel spreadsheets.
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For example, if you’re planning a surprise birthday party for your partner, you don’t want them to find and open the spreadsheet that breaks down all the food, decorations, and entertainment. Using Excel for school projects, or to keep your personal life organized? You might still have some spreadsheets that you want to keep private. If you’re using the software professionally, that could include client contact details, credit card information, social security numbers, or data about your co-workers. Many Excel spreadsheets contain a lot of sensitive information. We’ll also explain how you can store and share those passwords in a password manager, alongside your account logins and everything else that’s important in your digital life. Here, you’ll learn a few different ways to add password protection to your Excel files.

If you fall into this group, you may want to password-protect some of your most important spreadsheets and Workbooks. Millions of people use Microsoft Excel to record, organize, and analyze important information.
