How to Lock Cells in Google Sheets

Working in Google Sheets, you could have many columns filled with data cells. You may want to lock some of them to protect them from unwanted edits. Knowing how to lock cells in Google Sheets can ensure only people with the appropriate permissions can modify your locked cells.

When discussing locking cells, you might also think about freezing them. Google Sheets refers to this action as Protect range. This feature allows you to lock specific cells or ranges of cells to prevent them from being edited or modified. This adds a layer of security to those cells, ensuring only authorized individuals can make changes.

How to lock cells in Google Sheets

Briefly, a quick summary of the steps required includes:

1. Open your Google Sheets document and select the cells or range of cells you want to lock. 

2. Choose Protect sheets and ranges from the Data menu.

3. Click on the Set permissions button.

4. Apply your changes by clicking Save or the Done button in the sidebar to finish protecting the cells.

Let’s examine these steps in more detail.

1. Open your Google Sheets document and select the cells or range of cells you want to lock.

Let’s say you don’t want anyone else to change the data in our practice sheet's first three cells in the Box Office Earnings column. You would select those three cells. 

2. Choose 'Protect sheets and ranges' from the 'Data' menu.

Alternatively, you can right-click on the selected cells and choose Protect range from the context menu. A sidebar with the range or sheet you want to protect will appear on the right side of the screen. 

3. Click on the 'Set permissions' button.

In the Set permissions section, you can specify who can access the locked cells. By default, Only you will have access.

• You might change the permissions to Only domain, where only people in your domain can edit the range or sheet. 

• You could also select Custom, which lets you add the email addresses of the people who can edit the range or sheet. 

4. Apply your changes by clicking the 'Done' button in the popup window to finish protecting the cells.

You can also define what actions users can perform on the protected cells. By default, Can edit is selected, but you can change it to Can comment or Can view if desired.

To see your protected cells, you can click View > Show > Protected ranges and you’ll see a striped background on your locked cells.

Using the Protect range feature, you can maintain the integrity of your data, prevent accidental modifications, and control the level of access for collaborators working on your Google Sheets document.

Troubleshooting

While locking cells in Google Sheets, you may encounter some common issues that require troubleshooting. Here are a few potential problems and their solutions.

If you can’t access a sheet, ensure you’ve been given the appropriate access level (edit, comment, or view). The file owner may need to change the permissions settings. You can Request access from the “You need permission” page. Otherwise, you might try accessing that file from a different Google account. 

Learn more about Google Sheets.

Strengthen your abilities to work with data using Google Sheets by enrolling in the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate on Coursera. You can learn at your own pace while building your spreadsheet and data analysis skills.