How to Password Protect an Excel File on MacOS and Windows

August 30, 2024 By Janne Smith No Comments 4 minutes

On a scale of 1-10, how irritating it would be when someone sneaks into sheets containing all confidential data. That’s where learning how to password protect an Excel file comes of help! That’s all this article is about.

How to Password Protect an Excel File

In this guide, we’ll cover brief tutorials on how to password protect an Excel file Mac and Windows. We’ll initially walk you through a general tutorial and then follow up steps for SharePoint, Google Drive, and Teams. That said, let’s get the ball rolling!

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How to Password Protect an Excel File in Windows and Mac

Password protection for your Excel sheets can be a great way to limit file access for unwanted users. Once done, share the password with the users to whom you want the Excel sheet to be accessible, and that’s all. Moreover, the password setup process is only a piece of cake.

That said, here’s how to password protect an Excel file in Windows 10 and Mac:

Open Microsoft Excel > Info.
Find the Protect Workbook box and click on it.
Select Encrypt with Password.
Enter your preferred Password. Choose OK.
Confirm the action by reentering the password. Once done, choose OK.

You’ve now set the password for your Excel sheets. Share the password among users to allow access.

How to Password Protect an Excel File on Sharepoint

Similar to Microsoft Excel, Sharepoint allows you to protect your files through a password.

Setting up a password will prevent unauthorized data access and other disruptions. That said, here’s a quick tutorial on how to password protect an Excel file in Sharepoint:

Open the specific Excel file.
Go to the Review tab > Protect Workbook.
Type your password when prompted.
Verify the action by retyping your password.
Click on OK.

How to Password Protect an Excel File on Google Drive

Exploding Topics states that over 900 million people monthly use Google Sheets. While both give a similar look and feel, a similar password protection comes as expected. For that, here’s a brief walkthrough for how to password protect an Excel file on Google Drive:

Go to Google Drive and log in with your email ID.
Search and open the sheet for which you want to set the password.
Select Data from a drop-down menu > Protected Sheets and Ranges.
Either select the Sheet or Range. Selecting the Sheet will password-protect the whole Sheet. However, selecting Range will protect the selected area only.
For example, if you select Sheet, then click on +.
Add a sheet or range > click on Set Permissions.
Add all user emails to which you want the sheet to be accessible. Once selected, click on Done.

How to Password Protect an Excel File in Teams

Here’s a brief tutorial for password protecting an Excel File in Teams:

Go to the Teams channel or Chat.
Upload the Excel document that you want to password-protect.
Click on the document > choose the 3 dots > Manage Access.
Navigate “Anyone with the link can edit” > “Specific people.”
Enter all email addresses that you want the Excel file to be accessible.
Click on Permission and select the type of access you want to grant.
Click on Apply to save changes.

FAQs - How to Password Protect an Excel File

Can I password protect an Excel File without opening it?

You’ve to open an Excel file to password protect it. The steps require accessing the Excel file Settings and keeping a password from there.

How to password protect a File?

Open Microsoft Excel > Info.
Find the Protect Workbook box and click on it.
Select Encrypt with Password.
Enter your preferred Password. Choose OK.
Confirm the action by reentering the password. Once done, choose OK.

How to password protect an Excel file in office 365?

Open the Excel file.
Go to the Excel File > Info > click on Protect Workbook.
Choose Encrypt with Password.
Create a strong password and type it in the field.
Confirm the password by entering it again in the Reenter Password field.
Click OK.

How to password protect an Excel file on Mac?

Open Microsoft Excel > Info.
Find the Protect Workbook box and click on it.
Select Encrypt with Password.
Enter your preferred Password. Choose OK.
Confirm the action by reentering the password. Once done, choose OK

That’s all about How to password protect an Excel file Mac.

Wrapping Up

Conclusively, password protection gives another security layer to prevent any unauthorized access to your files. You can setup passwords on Google Sheets, Excel files on Windows and Mac, Teams, and Office 365. And, all our tutorials about how to set password for Excel file in Windows 10 cover that.

While you leverage elevated data security via password protection, you must also heighten the walls for cyber threats. We recommend connecting to FastestVPN. Doing so will route all your data through an encrypted tunnel, making it almost impossible for black hats to decipher.