What is the difference between locking and protecting

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Additional information How to password protect Microsoft Word and Excel documents. How to add or remove a cell, column, or row in Excel. Create, delete, rename, copy, and move a worksheet in Excel. Microsoft Excel keyboard shortcuts. Help, examples, and information on Excel formulas. See image at right. You may enter a password before clicking OK, but be very careful.

See "About Passwords" below. If the worksheet is already protected, the icon in the Review tab is "Unprotect Worksheet" or "Sheet".

When a worksheet is already protected, the menu item reads "Unprotect Sheet. About Passwords : Don't enter a password unless absolutely necessary. If you forget the password, you won't be able to unprotect the worksheet, which means you won't ever be able format the locked cells, or change or delete the contents of the locked cells!

After you click Protect Sheet , a window displays with some customization options as shown in the image. By default, Excel has the first two options checked: "Select locked cells" and "Select unlocked cells. If both of these default settings are taken, no cell in the worksheet can be formatted as long as the sheet is protected, The "Format cells" option on the right-click menu is grayed out.

Nor can columns or rows be added, deleted, or formatted. Other restrictions also apply. If you are the only user of the worksheet, you may prefer to un-check "Select locked cells," KEEP "Select unlocked cells" checked, and check some of the other options so that you have more power to make changes to the worksheet without disturbing the locked cells, or having to unprotect the sheet.

By checking some of the other options on the Protect Sheet window, you will be able to format the unlocked cells, insert and delete rows and columns, and so on. There will be some restrictions if your desired activity is in the area of locked cells. For example, even if you've checked "Insert Rows," you won't be able to insert a row if the row would interfere with a column of locked cells. But you'll want maximum flexibility to manage the unlocked cells while protecting the data in the cells that are locked.

What happens when you click in a locked cell? As soon as you try to enter data, delete the data, format the cell, and so on, Excel displays a message that reads, "The cell or chart that you are trying to change is protected and therefore read-only" and explains how to unprotect the sheet. A workbook can also be protected. Follow the instructions for protecting a worksheet, but look for "workbook" instead.