XL: How to Lock Individual Cells in a Worksheet

This article describes how to lock individual cells in a Microsoft Excel worksheet. The procedure to use depends on whether you want the majority of the cells on the worksheet to remain locked or unlocked.

NOTE: If you lock a cell and protect the worksheet, then you cannot type data into the cell, modify the data currently in the cell, or change other attributes of the cell (such as cell formatting).

To unlock individual cells in an Excel worksheet, use either of the following procedures.

If You Want the Majority of Cells Locked

To lock the majority of the cells on the worksheet, follow these steps:

1. Select the cells that you want to remain unprotected. To select nonadjacent (noncontiguous) cells, hold down CTRL and click the cells that are to remain unprotected.
2. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Protection tab.
3. Click to clear the Locked check box and click OK.
4. On the Tools menu, point to Protection, and then click Protect Sheet. Type a password if you want one, and then click OK.

If You Want the Majority of Cells Unlocked

To leave the majority of the cells on the worksheet unlocked, follow these steps:

1. Select the entire worksheet by clicking the Select All button (the gray rectangle in the upper-left corner of the worksheet where the row 1 and column A headings meet), or by pressing CTRL+A or CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR.
2. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Protection tab. Click to clear the Locked check box and click OK.
3. Select the cells that you want to protect. To select nonadjacent (noncontiguous) cells, hold down CTRL and click the cells that you want to protect.
4. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Protection tab. Click to select the Locked check box, and then click OK.
5. On the Tools menu, point to Protection, and then click Protect Sheet. Type a password, if you want one, and then click OK.

For more information about locking cells and protecting worksheets, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type lock cells in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.

For additional information about using passwords, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about locking cells and protecting worksheets, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: