How to disable editing in textbox to prevent user inputting in Excel?
This article is talking about disabling editing in a textbox (ActiveX Control) or multiple textboxes (ActiveX Control) to prevent user inputting in Excel.
Disable editing in a textbox by changing its properties
Disable editing in multiple textboxes by VBA code
Disable editing in a textbox by changing its properties
This section will show you to change a textbox’s properties to disable editing of this textbox. Please do as follows.
1. Turn on the Design Mode by clicking Developer > Design Mode. See screenshot:
2. Right-click the textbox and click Properties from the context menu as below screenshot shown.
3. In the opening Properties dialog box, select False in the Enabled box and then close the Properties dialog box. See screenshot:
Now the selected textbox is gray and unable to edit.

Unlock Excel Magic with Kutools AI
- Smart Execution: Perform cell operations, analyze data, and create charts—all driven by simple commands.
- Custom Formulas: Generate tailored formulas to streamline your workflows.
- VBA Coding: Write and implement VBA code effortlessly.
- Formula Interpretation: Understand complex formulas with ease.
- Text Translation: Break language barriers within your spreadsheets.
Disable editing in multiple textboxes by VBA code
If you want to disable editing in multiple textboxes in a worksheet, please apply the below VBA code.
1. In the worksheet contains multiple checkboxes you need to disable editing, click Developer > Insert > Check Box (ActiveX Control) to insert a checkbox into the worksheet. See screenshot:
2. Right-click the checkbox and select View Code from the context menu. See screenshot:
3. In the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, please replace the original code with below VBA code.
VBA code: Disable editing in multiple textboxes
Private Sub CheckBox1_Click()
Dim xTextBox As OLEObject
Dim xFlag As Boolean
Dim I As Long
Dim xArr
xArr = Array("TextBox1", "TextBox2", "TextBox3")
xFlag = True
If Me.CheckBox1 Then xFlag = False
For Each xTextBox In ActiveSheet.OLEObjects
If TypeName(xTextBox.Object) = "TextBox" Then
For I = 0 To UBound(xArr)
If xTextBox.Name = xArr(I) Then
xTextBox.Enabled = xFlag
End If
Next
End If
Next
End Sub
Notes:
1. In the code, CheckBox1 is the name of your inserted checkbox. And TextBox1, TextBox2, and TextBox3 are the textboxes you will disable editing in the worksheet. Please change them as you need.
2. For disabling editing for more textboxes, please add the textbox name embracing with double quotes into the line xArr = Array("TextBox1", "TextBox2", "TextBox3").
4. Then save and close the code, turn off the Design Mode, now, checking the checkbox will make all specified textboxes unable to edit in worksheet. See screenshot:
Note: If you uncheck the checkbox, the textboxes can be edited again.
Related articles:
- How to auto select text of a textbox when it is selected in Excel?
- How to autocomplete a textbox when typing in Excel?
- How to clear contents of textbox when clicked in Excel?
- How to concatenate texts of multiple cells into a textbox in Excel?
- How to format a textbox as a percentage in Excel?
Best Office Productivity Tools
Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time. Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...
Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier
- Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
- Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
- Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!
All Kutools add-ins. One installer
Kutools for Office suite bundles add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint plus Office Tab Pro, which is ideal for teams working across Office apps.





- All-in-one suite — Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint add-ins + Office Tab Pro
- One installer, one license — set up in minutes (MSI-ready)
- Works better together — streamlined productivity across Office apps
- 30-day full-featured trial — no registration, no credit card
- Best value — save vs buying individual add-in