
Setting a password to open the workbook is self-explanatory if a user doesn’t know the password, he or she can’t open the file. Enter one or both passwords and click OK.īe sure to note the password somewhere safe, just in case you forget it.įigure A Enter the password and note it in a secure place.Advanced options let you set encryption options. In the resulting dialog ( Figure A) you can set two passwords: One to open the workbook and one to modify the workbook.In the resulting Save As dialog, click the Tools dropdown (to the left of the Save button) and choose General Options.

(If you’ve suppressed the Backstage area, you’ll skip this step.)

Security is about access protection is about maintaining integrity. Protection limits users who are already in. Security lets you choose who gets in and by virtue of doing so, who doesn’t. Although the terms security and protection are bantered about interchangeably, feature-wise in Excel, they aren’t the same thing. protectionīefore we discuss Excel’s password-protection feature, let’s clarify what we mean by security. LEARN MORE: Office 365 Consumer pricing and features Security v. You can’t add a password to a file open in the browser, nor can you open it in the browser. There’s no demonstration file–you won’t need one. I’m using Office 365 Excel (desktop), but you can user earlier versions. You’ll learn what that protection does and doesn’t do for you and how to avoid some gotchas. In this article, I’ll show you more than just how to password-protect a workbook. Password protecting an Excel workbook at the file level controls access in two ways: It lets a user in, and it lets a user save changes. It’s a first step effort, but certainly not the only step you should take to protect confidential and proprietary data.

Securing data is a tiered process with password protection at the bottom level–the file level. How to secure your email via encryption, password management and more (TechRepublic Premium) Meet the most comprehensive portable cybersecurity device

The steps are similar to what Susan Harkins describes in this tutorial, which was first published in January 2011 and updated in March 2019. Editor’s note: In the video, Brandon Vigliarolo walks you through the steps of securing an Excel workbook with a password in Microsoft Office 365.
