Column Lock In Excel How To Use Freeze Panes To Lock Columns

Excel Column Lock

For example, suppose we need to allow editing for necessary cells in an Excel spreadsheet but need not want others to edit cells containing essential data such as company information, formulas, drop-down lists, etc. In such cases, using this Excel feature, we can protect (lock) specific cells, columns, or rows on our Excel spreadsheet hassle-free and without any extra effort.

Locking a column can be done in two ways. We can do this by using the freeze panes in excelFreeze Panes In ExcelFreezing panes in excel helps freeze one or more rows and/or columns so that they remain fixed while scrolling through the database.read more and by protecting the worksheet by using the review functions of Excel. In Excel, we may want to lock a column so that the column does not disappear in case the user scrolls the sheet. That particularly happens when we have a large count of headers in a single sheet, and the user needs to scroll the sheet to see the other information.

When the user scrolls the data, some of the columns may lapse and not be visible to the user. So, we can lock the columns from getting scrolled out for the visible area.

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How to Lock Column in Excel?

#1 – Locking the First Column of Excel

#2 – Lock any other Column of Excel

If the column is to be locked, we need to follow the below steps.

We must go to the “View” tab from the ribbon and choose the option of “Freeze Panes.” From the “Freeze Panes” options, choose the option of “Freeze First Column.” As a result, this will freeze the first column of the spreadsheet.

As a result, this will freeze the first column of the spreadsheet.

Step #1 – We must select the column that needs to be locked. If we want to lock column “D,” we must choose the “E” column.
Step #2 – From the “View” tab, we must choose the “Freeze Pane” option and select the first option to lock the cell.

The output is shown below:

#3 – Using the Protect Sheet Feature to Lock a Column

In this case, the user will not be able to edit the content of the locked column.

Step #1 – We must select the complete sheet and change the “Protection” to unlocked cells.
Step #2 – Now, we must select that column that we want to lock and change the property of that cell to “Locked.”
Step #3 – We must go to the “Review” tab, and click on the “protect sheetProtect SheetWhen we don’t want any other user to make changes to our worksheet, we can use the Protect worksheet feature in Excel. It can be found in Excel’s Review tab. read more,” and then click on “OK.” Now, it will lock the column.

Explanation of Column Lock in Excel

Have you ever wondered what will happen if someone changes the value of a cell or a complete column? Yes, this may happen, especially in cases where the sheet is shared with multiple team users.

If this happens, this may drastically change the sheet’s data as many other columns may depend upon the values of another column.

So, if we share our file with other users, we must make sure that the column is protected and no user can change the value of that column. We can do this by protecting the columns and hence locking the columns. If we are locking a column, we can choose to have a password to unlock a column or prefer to continue without a password.

It is about locking the column, but sometimes we want a specific column that does not lapse in case the sheet is scrolled and always visible on the sheet.

Things to Remember

If we are locking a column using the “Freeze Panes” option, only the column is locked from scrolling, and we can always change the column’s content anytime.If we are using the “Protect Sheet” and the “Freeze Panes” options, then it is only possible to protect the column’s content and protect it from scrolling.If we want a column that is not the first column to freeze, we need to select the next right column, and then we need to click on “Freeze Panes.” Hence, we should always choose the next column for freezing the previous column.We can choose to have a password if we protect a column or continue without a password.

Excel Column Lock#

How to Lock Column in Excel?#

#1 – Locking the First Column of Excel#

#2 – Lock any other Column of Excel#

#3 – Using the Protect Sheet Feature to Lock a Column#

Explanation of Column Lock in Excel#

Things to Remember#

Recommended Articles#