People often ask how to set a password for a document. Microsoft Excel 2007/2010 so that the document is available to other users only in read mode. Today I will explain how to install protection against changing an Excel file.
This information is intended primarily for beginners, therefore it is replete with a large number of screenshots and detailed description actions that to the average user may seem to require no comment at all. Please be understanding.
1. And so, we have an open xlsx document with the name Book 1. Go to the tab File, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1.
2. Here we select the item Save as, outlined in red.

Figure 2.
3. The Save Document dialog box appears. At the bottom of the window, click the button Service, marked with a red marker in Figure 3.

Figure 3.
4. After this, a pop-up menu will appear. In it you need to select the item General Settings.

Figure 4.
5. We see the general parameters window, where you can set a password both for opening the file and for changing it. In our case, we only need to set a password to change it, so in the field Password to change enter the password.

Figure 5.
6. Next, press the button OK.

Figure 6.
7. In the password confirmation request window, enter our password again, then press the button OK.
Figure 7.
8. The system returns us to dialog box save the file where we press the button Save circled in the figure below.

Figure 8.
9. And so, we have an xlsx document that is protected by a password for modification. Let's try to open it.

Figure 9.
10. When you try to open a file, you will be asked for a full access password. In addition, as we see in Figure 10, we can open it in reading mode.

Figure 10.
11. In the title of the Microsoft Excel window you will see that the document is open in limited mode.

Figure 11.

When working with documents and tables, sometimes it becomes necessary to protect the file so that prying eyes do not have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the contents. The need to set a password on a file may arise even if you do not have any confidential information stored there, you just do not want anyone to open or change the contents of the file without your permission. In this article, we will look in detail at how to remove or set a password on an Excel file, and also touch on some other issues related to this topic. Let's figure it out. Let's go!

Passwords help protect the contents of your files

There are two ways to set a password in Excel. The process itself is not complicated. After you have opened the program itself, go to the “File” tab, select “Information” from the list. In the menu that opens, click “Protect the book” and in the pop-up list, select “Encrypt with password.” After this, all you need to do is enter the key itself. You can put a code that will be requested when opening a file. If you use old version Microsoft Excel, for example, 2003, then you will need to use other tabs: first go to “Tools”, then select the “Options” section and in the window that appears, go to the “Security” tab. Then everything is done in the same way.

Now let's look at the second approach. It is, rather, even faster and lighter than the first one. When you save the document (“Save As”), click on the “Tools” button and select “General Options” from the list that appears. Next, enter your password and confirm it by typing the code again. The advantage of this method is that it is not only faster, but also makes it possible to set a password for changing the . That is, if you want the document to be viewable, but no one can make changes to its contents, use this function.

To remove password protection from a Microsoft Excel document, follow the same steps as to install it, only erase the characters from the key entry field.

If the password has been lost and the data contained in the document is very important, you can recover the password. Recovery approaches differ depending on the type of protection set when the file was created. There are: simple, complex with a secret and impeccably complex. There is only one solution to the problem - hack. This is not very difficult to do; everything will depend only on the power of your computer and the type of protection. Let's talk in more detail about each case below.

To recover a password if the security is weak, you can use special programs designed specifically for this purpose. They all perform their functions equally well, so it is unlikely that any one of them can be singled out.

If you need to open a securely protected document with a secret, then the most realistic way to do this is for the Excel document version 1997–2003. Why is this so? Yes, because with this type of protection, the file data is encrypted, the password itself does not play a very big role, so you need to look for an encryption key. Older versions of the program use a relatively short key, which greatly simplifies the task of opening a document. Unfortunately, the only way to solve the problem is a banal search of keys. To do this you will have to use special program, which is called "Accent Office Password Recovery" After opening it, find and activate the “Search for Key” item. In just a couple of minutes you will be able to access the closed file.

In the case of impeccably reliable protection, the approach is the same. The only difference is that the level and complexity of encryption here is much higher, therefore, you will have to use powerful computer and be patient. There are utilities that allow you to connect your PC’s video card to the search process in order to increase the speed of key search.

In general, summing up all of the above, we can conclude that setting a password for an Excel file is not difficult, you just need not to lose it, so as not to encounter problems recovering this very password. Write in the comments whether this article helped you and ask all your questions on the topic discussed.

Accountant, my dear boo... sorry, I got distracted. Actually, what am I talking about? We have already discussed this in the previous article, however text documents- this is not all that requires additional protection and confidentiality.

Microsoft Excel- one of the most popular programs for working with spreadsheets, it is used both among students and among the working population. Perhaps, for students it is not so important to set a password on Excel, but for accountants who conduct unclean affairs and “shamanize” with numbers, such functionality will be very useful and necessary.

This article is one of those where you don’t need to write a lot of text. However, among us there are computer users who are far from new-fangled technologies and without an explanation of this or that point it will be difficult for them to figure out how to put a password on an Excel document. Therefore, I will try to describe in detail in a short form.

How to set a password to open an Excel file?

  1. Click the “Office” button, go to the “Prepare” section and select the “Encrypt document” option:
  1. The “Document Encryption” window opens, where you need to specify a password (there is an article about that for you):

  1. After you have come up with a code combination and entered it, you need to confirm it:

  1. The Excel file now has a password. All that remains is to save it and check that the settings are correct. If everything is correct, then when you open the file you will see the window:

If it’s difficult to come up with a code combination, use . Remember that if you lose or forget your password, you will not be able to open the file, so write it down and store it in a safe place, for example, software — .

How to set a password to change an Excel document?

This setting is relevant for the document with which you are working. large number people and allows you to establish a ban on making intentional or unintentional changes. You can protect the sheet and the contents of protected cells from:

  • highlighting locked or unlocked cells;
  • formatting cells, rows and columns;
  • inserting rows, columns and hyperlinks;
  • deleting columns and rows;
  • sorting;
  • using AutoFilter and PivotTable reports;
  • changes to objects and scripts.

To use the function:

  1. Create a new or open an existing Excel workbook.
  2. IN top menu select the “Review” category and go to the “Protect Sheet” section:
  1. The “Sheet Protection” window opens, where you can specify a password to disable protection and mark the functions available to users:

  1. When specifying a code combination, you will need to enter it again for confirmation:

  1. After this, the sheet will be protected in accordance with your settings, and if prohibited actions are performed, the information window “Cell or chart is protected” will be displayed:
  1. You can remove protection through the “Reviews” category and the “Unprotect sheet” button:

How to set a password to protect an Excel workbook?

The third form of spreadsheet protection is where you can ensure the safety of the Excel workbook as a whole. By setting a password, you will prohibit other users from performing any manipulations with the sheets, i.e. move, add, delete, rename and hide. To use this protection system:

  1. Create a new or open an existing Excel workbook.
  2. Go to the “Review” category, click “Protect Book” and select “Protect structure and windows”:

  1. A settings window opens, asking you to select protection for the structure or windows. You can block changes with a password or without it. If in the first case you are guaranteed to protect the document from any user actions, then in the second case only from unintentional ones, since anyone can remove this protection if necessary:

  1. It's quite easy to check if the security measures are working - click right click mouse on any of the open sheets and you will see that the commands for changing the workbook: delete, paste, rename, copy, hide, display are not available:

  1. Removing protection, i.e., a password, is as simple as setting it - we perform the same steps as in the second paragraph of this section and see the “Remove book protection” window:

Best Security Measure

The only password to protect against intruders is the “password to open a document.” All other forms of security are intended more for teamwork over the document and do not provide an adequate level of protection. As an additional factor - .

Video on YouTube about how to put a password on an Excel spreadsheet from a blogger " Lyudmila Vinokurova»:

Most computer users use in their daily work Microsoft package Office. Quite often, documentation files may contain important information, which must be protected from third parties. To ensure that only you can open and edit your documents, the system has the ability to lock them with a password. Not all users know about this.

Nevertheless, we have such an opportunity. In fact, it’s quite easy to put a password on an Excel or Word file and thereby protect it; you just need to do some simple manipulations.

How to put a password on an Excel 2007 file

These steps are performed after you have created a document with the above name. First you need to use the menu to open the item Save as.

In the window that appears, find the button on the bottom left side Service, click and find in the list that appears General Settings. In the newly opened window we find the line Password to open.

It is recommended to come up with medium to high complexity containing letters and numbers to reduce the likelihood of an Excel file containing sensitive information being hacked. After you have entered the password in the appropriate line, you will need to enter it again after clicking on OK. This operation exists to eliminate typing errors. The above steps work exactly the same with Word documents.

How to put a password on an Excel 2003 file

  1. After creating the file, you need to open the menu item File and select the line with the name Save as.
  2. In the window that appears, look for the item Service and in the pop-up menu we find the line General Settings.
  3. Next, a window appears asking for a password, enter

It is worth touching on such an important issue: how to password protect an Excel file. The presented tool is integral part Microsoft Office. Excel allows you to create tables of varying levels of complexity, apply formulas, and change the design. Today, all versions of the program support setting a password.


Detailed instructions

The description of the process can be divided into several stages. Files of the *.xls format, as well as any other files, allow you to password-protect Excel materials. Microsoft documents Office, including Word and Access. To complete the procedure, you need to do the following:

1. At the end of the process, click “File”. It is located in the menu at the top of the Microsoft Excel window.
2. When the list appears, you need to go to the “Save As” section. To do this, click on it with the left mouse button.
3. In the file saving window, find the “Tools” menu and click the inverted triangle.
4. After this, the “General Settings” function will appear, which must be applied.

Setting up a password

Now you should move on to the main steps to password protect an Excel file. When the “General Settings” section appears, you will need to enter a password that will allow you to enter the document and also edit it if necessary. When Read Only is enabled, the toolbar is disabled by default when a password is set. When protecting a document only for its launch, the prompt for input occurs constantly at the moment the table is opened. In order to use it, as well as edit its data, you need to know secret combination.

To open a password-protected Excel file, provided that the protection is set to change the material, the launch is carried out as standard, without making any requests. Difficulties arise when entering new data into the table, as well as when trying to save the document. As a result, the user will be required to enter a secret combination. Setting both types of passwords requires double entry during the process of opening and closing the file.

It is worth noting that you can set different passwords for opening and editing material. Now we need to go back to the settings. After the password has been created, you need to click “OK”, which is located in “General Settings”. In Explorer you need to enter the name of the file and save it using the appropriate function.

Removing a password It is also worth raising the issue of disabling installed protection in Excel. To solve such a problem, you do not need additional program. The application has built-in tools that can perform these actions. First you need to launch Excel and also open the file that you want to remove the password from. Then you will need to use the "File" menu. In it you need to specify “Save as” and the “Tools” menu.

After this, you should go to “General Settings”. To do this, you need to double-click on the asterisks located in the password line. The "Del" button is then used to perform the required actions. The correctness of the operation is confirmed by pressing the “OK” key. After this, you need to click “Save” and then the “Yes” button, which will open in a new window. After completing these simple steps, the Excel password will be removed.

When using a sheet, similar operations are performed. You need to open the “Tools” menu, then use the “Unprotect” command. To cancel actions, you will need to enter the previously set password.

Using the methods presented above, you can password-protect an Excel file, as well as remove protection from the document.