PROTECTING WORKSHEET COLUMNS Excel 2003/2007

IF you have confi dential data that you need to protect from prying eyes, merely the locking columns will not be enough. Apart from locking the column contents, you will also need to hide these locked columns.

To do so using Excel 2003, carry out the following steps:

• Open the workbook and press [Ctrl] + [A] to select all the cells in the workbook.
• Go to the 'Format | Cells' menu command.
• Go to the 'Protection' tab of the 'Format Cells'.
• Uncheck the 'Locked' option.
• Next, select the columns that need to be protected.
• Go to the 'Format | Cells' menu command.
• Go to the 'Protection' tab of the 'Format Cells'.
• Check the 'Locked' and 'Hidden' options for the selected columns.
• Keeping the columns selected, select the 'Format | Column | Hide' menu command.
• Next, go to the 'Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet'.
• Check the 'Protect worksheet and contents of locked cells' option that you see in the 'Protect Sheet' dialog box.
• Set a password to secure your worksheet.
• Click 'OK' to continue.

Your data is now protected as well as hidden from possible threats.


If you are using Excel 2007 instead, carry out the following steps:

• Open the workbook and press [Ctrl] + [A] to select all the cells in the workbook.
• Go to the 'Home' tab.
• Click the 'Format' option appearing under the 'Cells' group.
• Now, elect the 'Lock Cell' option from the drop-down list to unlock the cells.
• Next, select the columns that need to be protected.
• Click the 'Format' option appearing under the 'Cells' group of the tab once again.
• Select the 'Format Cells' option from the drop-down list.
• Go to the 'Protection' tab in the 'Custom Lists' dialog box.
• Select the 'Locked' and 'Hidden' options.
• Click 'OK' to continue.
• Once again, click the 'Format' option appearing under the 'Cells' group of the tab.
• This time select the 'Protect Sheet...' option from the drop-down list to unlock the cells.
• Check the 'Protect worksheet and contents of locked cells' option in the 'Protect Sheet' dialog box.
• Type a password to secure the worksheet further. Make sure that your password is strong.
• Click 'OK' to continue.

Your worksheet is ready to be used.