Protect Excel file with password – Step by step tutorial

When it comes to preserving the integrity and confidentiality of your Excel files, one of the most effective strategies is to protect them with a password. This means that when you open an Excel file, you will need to input a password to access. Password-protecting Excel files not only prevents unauthorized access but also ensures the privacy and security of data in shared spaces. In this tutorial, we'll guide you on how to password-protect your Excel files effectively.

Password protect an Excel file

• Password protect an Excel file from opening
• Password protect an Excel file from modifying

Password protect multiple Excel files from opening

• With a powerful tool – Kutools for Excel
• With VBA code

Password protection warning

Video: Protect Excel file with password

 Password protect an Excel file 

To prevent others from accessing data or modifying the data in your Excel file, you can set a password to protect the Excel file. Excel offers straightforward methods to encrypt an entire workbook with a password, ensuring restricted access or preventing any alterations to the file.

Password protect an Excel file from opening

Securing an Excel file with a password is a great way to keep your data private. If you'd like to set this up, just follow these steps:

Step 1: Select the Encrypt with Password option

1. Open the workbook you want to set a password for.
2. Then, click "File" > "Info", and then, click "Protect Workbook" button, and select "Encrypt with Password" in the drop-down list.
   

Step 2: Set the password for protecting the Excel file

1. In the popped out "Encrypt Document" window, enter a password in the "Password" box, and click "OK".
   
2. Retype the password in the following "Confirm Password" window, and click "OK".
   

Step 3: Save the workbook

After setting the password, you should save the file for the password protection to take effect.

Result:

Now, every time the workbook is opened, the password will be required.

Never worry about forgetting passwords again!

Do you find yourself forgetting your passwords frequently? Say goodbye to those forgetful moments with Password Manager! With Kutools for Excel's Password Manager, you don't have to worry about that challenge anymore. It can help you:

• Store your passwords into the Password Manager securely.
• Enter the password automatically when opening password-protected files.
• Eliminate the need to memorize passwords.
• Read more about the tool    Download Kutools

Password protect an Excel file from modifying

Suppose you want others to access your Excel file but prevent modifications, even without knowing the password. In that case, you can set your Excel workbook to read-only and protect it with a password. This allows users to view the data without altering it. Let's go through the steps to activate this protective feature.

Step 1: Select the Save As feature

Open the workbook, and then click "File" > "Save As" > "Browse", see screenshot:

Step 2: Choose General Options

A "Save As" window will open, give a name to this Excel file into the "File name" box, and then click "General Options" from the Tools drop down. See screenshot:

Step 3: Set Password to Read Only

1. In the "General Options" dialog box, type a password in the "Password to modify" text box, and check "Read-only recommended" option. Then, click "OK". See screenshot:
   
2. In the next "Confirm Password" dialog box, enter the password again. And then, click "OK" to close the dialog.
   

Step 4: Save the workbook

After clicking OK, Excel will get back to the "Save As" window, click "Save" to save this workbook. Now the Excel workbook is both read-only and password-protected.

Step 5: Result (Open Password Protected workbook as Read Only)

1. From now on, when others open this Excel file, they needn’t type the password, just click "Read Only" button to access the workbook. See screenshot:
   
2. When they try to make changes and save the workbook, a warning message box will appear, reminding to save the workbook with a new name or in a different location. And the original workbook will not be affected. See screenshot:
   

Password protect multiple Excel files from opening

When you have multiple Excel files to protect, setting a password for each file individually can be quite tedious and complex. Here, I will introduce you two quick methods to bulk password-protect your Excel files.

Password protect multiple Excel files with just a few clicks by Kutools for Excel

When it comes to managing and protecting multiple Excel files, "Kutools for Excel" can be an excellent option. Its "Encrypt Workbooks" feature allows you to protect numerous Excel files with a same password at once, whether they are stored locally or on your OneDrive cloud storage.

After downloading and installing Kutools for Excel, please click "Kutools Plus" > "Encrypt Workbooks" > "Encrypt Workbooks" to enable this feature. Then follow the below steps:

1. Click "Add" button to select the Excel files that you want to password-protect. (Either from your local computer or OneDrive cloud) All selected files are added and listed into the list box;
2. Type a password into the "Use the following password" textbox;
3. Click "OK" to protect these Excel files.
   

Password protect multiple Excel files with VBA code

In the following steps, I will provide you with a VBA code that allows you to protect multiple Excel files with the same password:

Step 1：Open the VBA module editor and copy the code

1. Hold down the "ALT" + "F11" keys in Excel, and it opens the "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window.
2. Click "Insert" > "Module", and paste the following code in the "Module" Window.
   VBA code: password protect multiple Excel files

   Sub ProtectAll()
       'Update by Extendoffice
       Dim xWorkBooks As Workbook
       Dim xExitFile As String
       Dim xPassWord As Variant
       Dim xStrPath As String
       Dim xFileDialog As FileDialog
       Dim xFile As String
       On Error Resume Next
       Set xFileDialog = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
       xFileDialog.AllowMultiSelect = False
       xFileDialog.Title = "Select a folder [Kutools for Excel]"
       If xFileDialog.Show = -1 Then
           xStrPath = xFileDialog.SelectedItems(1)
       End If
       If xStrPath = "" Then
           MsgBox "No folder selected. The process has been canceled.", vbExclamation, "Kutools for Excel"
           Exit Sub
       Else
           xStrPath = xStrPath + "\"
       End If
       
       ' Check if there are Excel files in the selected folder
       xFile = Dir(xStrPath & "*.xls*")
       If xFile = "" Then
           MsgBox "No Excel files found in the selected folder.", vbExclamation, "Kutools for Excel"
           Exit Sub
       End If
       
       xPassWord = Application.InputBox("Enter password", "Kutools for Excel", , , , , , 2)
       If (xPassWord = False) Or (xPassWord = "") Then
           MsgBox "Password cannot be blank!", vbInformation, "Kutools for Excel"
           Exit Sub
       End If
       
       On Error Resume Next
       Application.ScreenUpdating = False
       Do While xFile <> ""
           Set xWorkBooks = Workbooks.Open(xStrPath & xFile)
           Application.DisplayAlerts = False
           xWorkBooks.SaveAs Filename:=xWorkBooks.FullName, Password:=xPassWord
           Application.DisplayAlerts = True
           xWorkBooks.Close False
           Set xWorkBooks = Nothing
           xFile = Dir
       Loop
       Application.ScreenUpdating = True
       MsgBox "Successfully protect!", vbInformation, "Kutools for Excel"
   End Sub  
   

Step 2: Execute the code to password protect all Excel files in a folder

1. After pasting this code, please press "F5" key to run this code. A "Select a folder" window will appear, select a folder which contains the workbooks that you want to protect with a password. Then, click "OK". see screenshot:
   
2. In the following prompt box, enter a password for protecting workbooks. And then, click "OK".
   
3. After finishing the protection, a prompt box will pop out to remind you all workbooks in the selected folder have been successfully protected, see screenshot:
   

Password protection warning:

• "Remember Your Password": Excel does not provide an option to recover the password if you forget it. If you forget the password you set on an Excel file, you might not be able to open the file again. Thus, remembering your password or securely storing it somewhere safe is crucial.
• "Case Sensitivity": Excel passwords are case-sensitive, so be careful when setting or inputting the password.

This is how you can protect an Excel or multiple Excel files with password. If you're interested in exploring more Excel tips and tricks, our website offers thousands of tutorials, please click here to access them. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to providing you with more helpful information in the future!

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