Protect Sheets and Cells in Microsoft Excel

Quick answer: Unlock input cells before protecting the worksheet, then protect workbook structure separately if sheet tabs must not be renamed, moved or deleted. Neither feature is file encryption, and an optional protection password is not needed for this disposable practice exercise.

Version and platform: Microsoft 365 Excel for Windows desktop; Mac, Excel for the web and Excel 2013 interfaces not covered. Use a disposable workbook for the exercise.

Prepare editable inputs and calculated totals

Create a sheet named Costs with this table at A1:C3:

Item	Quantity input	Calculated total
Notebook	2	=B2*4.50
Pen	3	=B3*1.25

Add a second sheet named Readme with “Practice workbook” in A1. Back on Costs, confirm C2 is 9 and C3 is 3.75. Save an XLSX practice copy. The goals are to leave B2:B3 editable, prevent accidental replacement of C2:C3 and preserve the two sheet names/order.

Protect the formulas, not the inputs

1. Select B2:B3, press Ctrl+1, and open the Protection tab in Format Cells.
2. Clear Locked and confirm with OK. Leave the formula cells locked. Cell locking alone has no effect until worksheet protection is enabled.
3. Choose Review → Protect Sheet. Allow users to select unlocked cells. Leave the optional password empty for this exercise, and confirm.
4. Change B2 from 2 to 4. It should accept the input and C2 should recalculate to 18.
5. Try typing 999 over C2. Excel should reject the edit; cancel the attempt and check that the formula and result 18 remain.

If B2 is blocked too, unprotect the sheet, unlock exactly B2:B3 and protect it again. If C2 can be replaced, check both its Locked setting and whether Protect Sheet is actually active. The ribbon changes to Unprotect Sheet when protection is enabled.

Protect the workbook’s sheet structure

Worksheet protection does not by itself prevent tab renaming or moving. Choose Review → Protect Workbook to protect the workbook structure. Leave the optional password empty here as well, then confirm. This is a second protection setting, not a stronger version of the worksheet setting.

Right-click the Readme sheet tab and inspect the available commands. Structure-changing options such as Rename, Delete, Move or Copy, Hide and Unhide should be unavailable while structure is protected. Do not delete a worksheet just to test protection. Return to Costs and change B3 from 3 to 4: the unlocked input should still work and C3 should become 5. Workbook-structure protection should not turn that permitted input into a locked cell.

Save and reopen the XLSX copy. Verify the two sheet names, C2=18, C3=5, editable quantities and unavailable structure-changing commands. These checks distinguish the two protections rather than assuming one proves the other.

Remove the protections deliberately

Use Review → Protect Workbook again to remove the structure protection; if a password was supplied, the owner must provide it. Confirm that Rename becomes available, but leave the original names unchanged. This should not silently remove Costs’ worksheet protection. Use Review → Unprotect Sheet separately when you need to edit the formulas.

Without a password, another user can remove the corresponding protection, which is appropriate for learning but not an access-control design. If a real workbook uses a password, store it securely; Microsoft cannot recover a forgotten protection password. Worksheet protection is designed to prevent unwanted edits, not to keep file contents secret. Restricting who can open a workbook requires a different file-security or sharing-permission decision. Do not confuse hidden sheets, locked cells and encryption when distributing sensitive information.

Official references

• Protect a worksheet
• Protect a workbook

Documentation snapshots retrieved 20 October 2026. These instructions and example checks are documentation-based; no native Excel run or application screenshot is claimed.