Page 462 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

444 Protecting the Spreadsheet
Assigning a password to unprotect the sheet
In addition to enabling particular actions in the protected worksheet, you can also assign a password that’s required in order to remove the protec- tions from the protected worksheet. When entering a password in the Password to Unprotect Sheet text box of the Protect Sheet dialog box, you observe the same guidelines as when assigning a password to open or to make changes in the workbook (255 characters maximum that can consist of a combination of letters, numbers, and spaces, with the letters being case- sensitive).
As with assigning a password to open or make changes to a workbook, when you enter a password (whose characters are masked with asterisks) in the Password to Unprotect Sheet text box and then click OK, Excel displays the Confirm Password dialog box. Here, you must accurately reproduce the password you just entered (including upper- and lowercase letters) before Excel turns on the sheet protection and assigns the password for removing protection.
If you don’t successfully reproduce the password, when you click OK in
the Confirm Password dialog box, Excel replaces it with an alert dialog box indicating that the confirmation password is not identical to the one you entered in the Protect Sheet dialog box. When you click OK to clear this alert dialog box, you are returned to the Protect Sheet dialog box, where you may modify the password in the Password to Unprotect Sheet text box before you click OK and try confirming the password again.
As soon as you accurately reproduce the password in the Confirm Password dialog box, Excel closes the Protect Sheet dialog box and enables protection for that sheet, using whatever settings you designated in that dialog box.
If you don’t assign a password to unprotect the sheet, any user with a modicum of Excel knowledge can lift the worksheet protection and make any manner of changes to its contents, including wreaking havoc on its computational capabilities by corrupting its formulas. Keep in mind that it makes little sense to turn on the protection in a worksheet if you’re going to permit any- body to turn it off by simply clicking the Unprotect Sheet command button on the Review tab (which automatically replaces the Protect Sheet command button as soon as you turn on protection in the worksheet).
Removing protection from a worksheet
When you assign protection to a sheet, your input and editing are restricted solely to unlocked cells in the worksheet, and you can perform only those additional actions that you enabled in the Allow Users of this Worksheet To list box. If you try to replace, delete, or otherwise modify a locked cell in the