How to Protect an Excel Spreadsheet with a Password

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Encrypt a whole workbook or protect individual sheets

Written by Megaera Lorenz, PhD

Last Updated: March 25, 2026 Fact Checked

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Protecting a Whole Workbook

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Protecting a Sheet

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

If you have an Excel workbook or spreadsheet that contains sensitive data, you might want to prevent others from opening or editing it. Luckily, it’s easy to add password protection to an Excel file. In this article, we’ll explain how to password protect an entire Excel file to keep other users from opening or editing it without the password. We’ll also explain how to password protect an individual sheet within your workbook.

Adding Password Protection in Excel

To encrypt an entire workbook, go to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password (or File > Passwords on Mac) and enter a password.
Protect your workbook or worksheet from unauthorized edits by going to Review > Protect Workbook or Protect Sheet.

Section 1 of 2:

Protecting a Whole Workbook

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If you’re using Excel for Windows, this is the tab at the far left side of the Excel menu bar. In Excel for Mac, this is in the menu bar at the top of the screen.^{[1]
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If you’re using Excel for Mac, click Passwords instead and skip straight to this step.

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This will open a dropdown menu with different protection options.
A dialog box will open.
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Enter a password and click OK. The password will be case sensitive, but it can be any length and contain any combination of characters. You will be prompted to enter the password a second time to confirm it. Next time you open the worksheet, you’ll have to enter the password.
- In Excel for Mac, you can enter either a password to open the workbook or a password to modify it (or both) from this dialog. You can also choose to set the workbook to read only.
- To remove the password, open the workbook and enter the password when prompted. Go back to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password (or File > Passwords on Mac) and delete the password. Then, click OK.
- This method will prevent anyone who doesn’t know the password from opening the workbook. If you want more advanced protection options, such as preventing users with access to the document from making edits, keep reading.
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Use the Protect Workbook button for more options. This tool allows you to set up additional layers of protection (such as preventing other viewers from changing the structure of your workbook). This type of password protection only applies when users try to edit the workbook, not when they try to open it. To access these options:^{[2]
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Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

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- With the workbook open, click the Review tab.
- Click the Protect Workbook button.
- Enter a password and verify it. This can be different from the main workbook password.
- Check any additional protections you want to put in place.
  - For example, check the box next to “Protect structure” if you don’t want people without the password to be able to add, delete, hide, or move sheets.
  - Check “Protect windows” to keep your windows the same size and in the same position any time the workbook is opened.
- Click OK when you’re done.
- To unprotect your workbook, go to Review > Protect Workbook and enter the password.

Section 2 of 2:

Protecting a Sheet

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Click the Review tab. This method allows you to add password protections to an individual spreadsheet in your workbook. To start, open the sheet you want to protect, then click Review in the menu bar at the top of Excel.^{[3]
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- With this method, other users will need to enter a password to make specific types of edits to the sheet.
This button is located on the right side of the Review menu.
In the window that pops up, enter a password to protect your sheet, then enter it again in the Verify field. The password can be any length and can contain any combination of characters, but remember that it is case sensitive.
Use the checklist under the header that says “Allow users of this sheet to:”. For example, you can allow users to select locked or unlocked cells, format cells, insert rows and columns, and so on.
The sheet will now be protected from any changes unless otherwise specified. In order to edit the sheet, you’ll need to go to Review and click Unprotect Sheet, then enter the password.

Community Q&A

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I have made a sheet in Excel which contains 2000 names and addresses, so now I want to make this sequenced. First a, then after that b, c, etc. How do I do this?

Sylvia Saltaformajo

Community Answer

Right-click on the column you want to sort your sheet by. A menu will open. Hover over the "Sort" option in it. You will see another menu, click "Sort A to Z" in it.

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What do I do if I forgot the password?

Sylvia Saltaformajo

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Unfortunately you can't recover forgotten passwords for MS Excel spreadsheets. You'll have to recreate a document or recover password using special software. You can find it online, there are many options: Password-Find, Password Lastic, Rixler password recovery, etc.

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Tips

While you can remove password protections from your workbook, you need to know the password to do so. If you can’t remember the password, try one of these workarounds.

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If you need to add an extra layer of security to your Excel file, consider getting a digital signature. This will allow other people who view the document to see if it’s been altered without your permission.

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Warnings

Password-protecting your Excel sheet will keep the average user from messing around in your files, but a determined user can purchase password-cracking software to view your sheets.

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