If you’re the type of person who often collaborates with other Google Sheets users, then learning how to lock cells is an important trait. Locking cells makes it impossible for other users to alter the data in your spreadsheet until you want them to be changed. Locking Cells in Google Sheets requires only a few clicks of the mouse.
Why you should lock cells in Google Sheets
The main purpose of locking cells in a Google Sheets document is to protect your work from any potential accidents. You could end up editing or deleting data you’ve been working on for weeks, and that would make for a frustrating experience. Furthermore, you can use the Lock function to control which team members can edit the document. This is helpful if you have multiple team users who, from time to time, will access the document for various reasons.
How to Lock Cells in Google Sheets
Locking cells in a Google Sheets document is an easy task if you follow the options we’ve laid out below.
- Lock one or more cells in Google Sheets
- Edit a protected cell in Google Sheets
- Lock the entire Google Sheet document
1] Lock one or more cells in Google Sheets
To lock one or more cells in Google Sheets when scrolling, take these steps:
- From within Google Sheets, please open a worksheet.
- Select a cell, then right-click on it.
- For multiple cells, select the ones you want to lock, then hit the right-click button.
- Hover the mouse key over the View more cell action area.
- The next step here is to click on Protect Range.
- Type a description, then click on the Set Permissions button.
From here, you will see a prompt that allows you to show a warning message before editing a protected cell or one restricted from users.
If you want to restrict a user, then select the restrict option.
From the dropdown menu, then, choose one of the following options:
- Only You
- Custom
- Copy Permission from another range
Click on the Done button after making the preferred changes.
READ: How to switch Columns and Rows in Google Sheets
2] Edit a protected cell in Google Sheets
A locked cell in Excel can be edited only by the person who locked the cell as follows:
- From within the Protected Sheets & ranges window, click on the cell you want to edit.
- If needed, go ahead and type a new description, or choose a new range.
- To make changes to the permission, click on the Change Permission button.
- Hit the Done button when you’re done with altering.
READ: How to Draw on Google Docs?
3] Lock the entire Google Sheet document
Instead of just cells, users can lock the entire Google Sheet with ease.
- Open a Google Sheets workbook.
- Right-click on the preferred Sheet at the bottom of the document.
- From the context menu, please click on Protect Sheet.
- If needed, you can add exceptions by ticking the box that reads, Except certain cells.
- Hit the OK button, then select Set Permissions.
- Finally, click on Done, and that’s it.
READ: How to change Slide Layouts in Google Slides
How do I keep cells constant in Google Sheets?
If you want to keep a column or row constant, we suggest using an absolute reference via the formula. You see, an absolute reference is assigned in the formula when a dollar sign is added. From there, it can precede the row reference, the column reference, or both.
What does Shift F2 do in Google Sheets?
To find out what the Shift + F2 keys do in Google Sheets, simply press them and you’ll see the option to add a note to the active cell.
