Google Sheets is a spreadsheet platform with collaboration features, just like most other modern productivity suites these days. That said, while working on the platform, it can occasionally be useful to restrict certain users from editing a sheet or prevent them from entering data or editing specific cells. Furthermore, while sharing a sheet, you might restrict them from editing the sheet contents.
There can be countless situations, where locking the cells on Google Sheets can be the best solution. Just like other spreadsheet solutions, Google Sheets also offer you the functionality to lock cells, and the process is easier than you might think. So, today I will talk about how to lock cells on Google Sheets.
So, without any further delay, let’s get started with how to lock cells on Google Sheets to restrict users from editing cells on the platform.
How to lock cells on Google Sheets?
Step 1: Open a new sheet on Google Sheets, or open an existing one, where the inputs need to be restricted.
Select the cells that are supposed to be locked or restricted.
Step 2: Click on ‘Data’ in the menu bar, and then click on ‘Protect sheets and ranges’.
Step 3: On the right side, the options within the menu will appear. Simply click on ‘Set permissions’.
Step 4: The range editing options will appear now. The radio-button corresponding to ‘Restrict who can edit this range’ will be selected by default. Click on the drop-down menu just below the option.
If you select ‘Only you’, nobody else will be able to edit the cells. If you want to share the sheet with anybody else, but you don’t want anybody to edit the cell contents, proceed with this option.
The other option is ‘Custom’.
Step 5: If you choose ‘Custom’, you have to select the name of the users or their email addresses who can edit the cell contents. Once you are done, click on ‘Done’.
So, that’s how to lock cells on Google Sheets. After you are done restricting the cells, you can share the sheet the usual way, and users who have the permission will be able to edit the cells.
Now that you know how to lock cells on Google Sheets, you might want to lock the entire sheet. To do that, click on the drop-down menu, just beside the name of the sheet, and click on ‘Protect sheet’.
Now, proceed with the next steps from Step 3 of this tutorial. So, that is how you can lock a sheet on Google Sheets.
While locking the entire sheet on Google Sheets, you can also select a range of cells that do not need to be restricted.
Simply mark the option that says ‘Except certain cells’. Now, type in the range, as per the format shown in the screenshot below. If you want to have multiple ranges that are supposed to be unrestricted, click on ‘Add another range’, and type in the range.
Depending upon the number of such ranges you want to keep unrestricted, you will have to use the ‘Add another range’ multiple times.
Once you know how to lock cells on Google Sheets on Google Sheets, it will come in handy in a number of everyday situations for both professional and personal requirements.
So, that was all about how to lock cells on Google Sheets. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment on the same below.
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