How to Lock Cells in Excel to Prevent Editing

If you’ve built formulas, dashboards, or templates in Excel, you might want to protect certain cells from being edited by others. Here’s a quick guide on how to do it effectively.

🔐 Step-by-Step: Lock Only Specific Cells

1. Select all cells (Ctrl + A) and right-click → Format Cells → Protection tab → Uncheck "Locked".
2. Now select only the cells you want to lock.
3. Right-click → Format Cells → Protection tab → Check "Locked".
4. Go to the Review tab → Click "Protect Sheet".
5. Set a password (optional) and ensure "Select locked cells" is unchecked.

✅ Why Lock Cells?

• Prevent accidental changes to formulas
• Secure key data in templates
• Control what collaborators can edit

🧠 Bonus Tip

You can also hide formulas using the same “Protection” tab by checking “Hidden” before protecting the sheet.

Need a ready-made protected Excel template? Check out our tools on Gumroad.