Essentially I would like to have a read only file that can only be edited by putting a password in. Axemen 911 Whenever you are saving the file, it will overwrite the old one. The dialog box has some information for you. Add passwords if you want Excel to prompt for a password before allowing a user to open or modify the workbook file. If you want to open the file as read-only, you will press the Yes option. It would be easy enough to use but you'd have to put a button on your toolbar somewhere to call that macro.
Apparently things have changed a bit in Excel 2010 and I cannot seem to replicate the same security level as with the prior versions explained above. Now you could also set a password to protect it, then only people who know the password could change your Excel Workbook structure. This is a problem if you want nobody can edit your file. There are a few annoyance like having to deal with a dialog box when you turn it on and dealing with a popup box whenever you try to edit a cell. Hi everyone, Thanks a lot for the help. From then on, when other people open the excel workbook, they will be prompted that the excel workbook should be opened as read-only unless they need to save changes to it. Type the following into the Immediate Window and press enter see example in the screenshot above.
Tips: Probably your excel file is also protected with open password now besides above edit restrictions. Therefore, anybody who really, really wants to could get access to your document. Then while you open the Excel workbook next time, a dialog would always pops up and asks for a password for write access. Similar options are available for other common office software, including Microsoft Word. Notes: Protecting the workbook is not the same as protecting an Excel file or a worksheet with a password. On the other hand, it's sure to annoy your users.
In Formatting restrictions, Editing restrictions and Start enforcement, you can make selections that meet your formatting and editing needs. You will have to decide for yourself how bad it would be if somebody were to crack your password or save over your file. I have opened Excel file in my C WinForm Application adding reference to Microsoft. In essence, I want to do the same thing as setting the read-only bit for a file, but I want to do it for an Excel 2010 worksheet. The steps are similar to what Susan Harkins describes in this tutorial, which was first published in January 2011 and updated in March 2019.
When contacting me, be as specific as possible. Are you talking about Excel 2010? But you can save the workbook with new name or in a different location, and then read only is disabled on the new Excel file. Make it impossible to edit the sheet until you click a specific button You've already stated that protecting the sheet with a blank password is not the approach you want but it's certainly the simplest. Click on the General Options. In Excel 2007, click the Office button and choose Save As. In menu i will select A1.
Try to open the file. About the Author Steven Melendez is an independent journalist with a background in technology and business. But read-only mode could be removed or disabled as you wish anytime when you want to edit excel file? One could be just made read-only and another one could password protected. Any special reason for this? Confirm Password dialog box appears. This for me leaves it open to forgetting to reprotect when finished with it.
You can only lock the cells which you want to make them read-only, and then protect this worksheet to achieve it. Microsoft Weekly Newsletter Be your company's Microsoft insider with the help of these Windows and Office tutorials and our experts' analyses of Microsoft's enterprise products. Set the file to read-only with a Macro By using a Macro, it is possible to set the file to read-only when the file is opened. You can use this to make a single button that turns it on and off. 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. Remind yourself that you don't want to edit this sheet If it's to prevent yourself from accidentally editing the sheet, one solution is to draw giant rectangle that covers all your data and set it's transparency to 100%. While it may prevent users from making changes to the spreadsheet, anyone with a password cracking software can get through.
Now if you make any changes on the excel file, and want to save, there would be a message that prompts you again to save a copy of the file and rename it. Here this article will show the ways to disable read only in an Excel file that depends on the 3 cases of how the Excel file is made to read only. Are you open to that approach? To learn more, see our. Press the Alt + Q keys to close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window. That is encrypting Workbook with password to prevent workbook from opening.