How to Password Protect a Spreadsheet: Spreadsheet Security 101

While a spreadsheet may seem insignificant, it can contain sensitive information that you wouldn't want falling into the wrong hands. That's why it's important to know how to password protect a spreadsheet.

When it comes to keeping our information safe and secure, it's easy to focus on the big things - like our bank accounts and credit cards. But what about seemingly little things, like our Excel and Google Sheets spreadsheets which can also contain all kinds of personal information?

So, how do you password-protect a spreadsheet? Excel and Google Sheets make it extremely easy. If you're in Excel, go to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password. If you're in Google Sheets, got to File > Protect sheet

Here are more examples regarding why you would password Protect a spreadsheet and the easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to do it!

But first, check out our video that walks through the steps as well!

Why Should I Password Protect a Spreadsheet?

You might be thinking, "Why would I need to password-protect a spreadsheet? It's just a bunch of numbers and words."

The truth is, even the most mundane spreadsheet can contain sensitive information that you wouldn't want falling into the wrong hands.

For example, lets you're using a spreadsheet to track your monthly budget. It might not seem like a big deal if someone else sees it, but it could be embarrassing if someone found out how much you spend on avocado toast. Or maybe you're using a spreadsheet to plan a surprise party for your spouse. The last thing you want is for the surprise to be ruined because someone stumbled upon your guest list. In these situations, knowing how to password-protect a spreadsheet can prevent any potential embarrassment or ruined surprises.

But it's not just personal use - even a small business can benefit from password-protecting their spreadsheets, perhaps even more so than those using spreadsheets for personal use.

Imagine you're a freelance writer and you use a spreadsheet to track your clients and their payments. If that spreadsheet fell into the hands of a competitor, they could use that information to poach your clients. Or maybe you're a real estate agent and you use a spreadsheet to track properties and their owners. If that spreadsheet got into the wrong hands, it could be used for identity theft.

Keeping your business information secure is crucial, that's why it's important to know how to password-protect a spreadsheet.

How to Password Protect a Spreadsheet in Google Drive

Google Drive is a great platform for storing and sharing your spreadsheets on the cloud, but it's important to keep them secure. Instead of setting a specific password for a sheet or range of cells, Google Sheets limits it by the user who is logged in while editing. You can choose who you want to have access to edit the sheet and those users must be logged into their Google account in order to make those edits. Here's how to password-protect a spreadsheet in Google Drive:

Click on Data in the top menu.
Select Protected Sheets & Ranges from the dropdown menu.
Click on Add a sheet or range

Toggle between the Range and Sheet tabs to set what you would like to password protect.
Select the specific range or sheet you want to protect.
Click on Set Permissions

Lastly, select if you would simply like a warning message to appear (which means anyone will still be able to edit, but will see a warning message first) or if you want only specific people to have edit access. Click Done and your changes will be saved.

Now that the sheet is protected, viewers will need the exact permissions you set to determine if they are able to edit the spreadsheet or not.

How to Password Protect a Spreadsheet in Excel

Microsoft Excel is one of the most popular spreadsheet programs, and it's easy to password protect your spreadsheets. Here's how to do it:

Click on File in the top menu and then click on Info from the left menu.
Click on Protect Workbook"
Click on Encrypt with Password

Enter a password in the Password field and click OK
Re-enter the password to confirm it and then click OK

Your spreadsheet is now password protected and you'll need to enter the password in order to make any changes to it.

In short, password-protecting your spreadsheet is like locking the door to your house - it's a simple step that can keep your information safe and secure. So don't let your spreadsheets be the weak link in your security chain. Protect them like you would any other valuable asset by knowing how to password-protect a spreadsheet, whether you're using Google Drive or Microsoft Excel.