Spreadsheets are tools that help all of us sooner or later. With them you can create lists of values in an orderly and automatic way with an exact result. Google spreadsheets can be shared with other people. Therefore, it will be necessary for you to know how to set the time so that only you can edit some sections, here we are going to show you how to do it.
Index( )
- What are the steps to restrict your Google Sheets cells?
- From Google Spreadsheets Online on your PC
- Using your Google Spreadsheets app on your phone
- Where are the interval sheets you just protected located?
- How to know if your specific cells were effectively protected?
- How can you unlock a spreadsheet in Google Drive if required?
What are the steps to restrict your Google Sheets cells?
As you already know, spreadsheets are used by many people in their jobs as they do organization and counting or statistics work . For that reason, it is necessary that they use these services to be able to do their work in a simpler way and a little faster.
Plus, when these spreadsheets are created for online use, you can also work on them as a group. For this reason, you are going to have to know how to protect them and now we are going to be explaining how you are going to be able to restrict your work cells.
But just because you protect a spreadsheet doesn’t mean the people you bought it from can’t see, copy, and print it. That’s why you should always know who you’re sharing this spreadsheet with so you don’t regret it later.
From Google Spreadsheets Online on your PC
In a Google spreadsheet, you can block people who you shared the spreadsheet with them, as well as the formulas in this spreadsheet . When you lock a spreadsheet, you will not be able to password protect this spreadsheet nor will you be able to block users from changing the format of the spreadsheet. To lock this spreadsheet you must do the following:
- You will enter the Google spreadsheets website and log in with your Google account. There you will open the spreadsheet to edit.
- You will press the option called ‘Data’ in which you are going to enter and then you will enter ‘Intervals and protected sheets’.
- Here you are going to click on ‘Intervals’ and you will proceed to mark the area you want to protect and then, you will click on ‘OK’.
- In the new ad, you have to select the option that says ‘Change permissions’.
- Now, you are going to choose the way in which you are going to be able to limit people by clicking on ‘Restrict those who edit this interval’, the editing modes are these:
-
- Only You– Will allow only you to make edits to this spreadsheet.
- Users of: This is used mostly in educational institutions and at work. The domain are the administrators that you have chosen in advance for editing these sheets.
- Custom: here you will be able to choose who will be authorized to make edits to the sheets.
- Duplicate changes from another interval: in this one, you will be able to choose the blocking configurations that you have created in other sheets.
- To see who makes edits to this section, you will click on ‘See warning when they edit this section’
- Lastly, you will need to save the changes you have made to this sheet. To save them, you will press ‘Done’
Using your Google Spreadsheets app on your phone
Many people are used to using their phones. The spreadsheet application is available for your phone, but there is something you should know and that is that certain functions are not available in the mobile application and the function of restricting spreadsheets is one of those that you will not be able to do from there . Therefore, you will have to configure it from a computer .
Where are the interval sheets you just protected located?
After setting up a spreadsheet so that only you can edit it, you may want to search for this spreadsheet to see if you have set it up correctly or to continue writing on top of the spreadsheet.
In order to see these sheets, you have to go to the top of the web page. In this section you will see the spreadsheets in order of edition . That is, the ones you have edited most recently will be first. So it will not be difficult to find, since you will have it right there.
How to know if your specific cells were effectively protected?
Now that you know how to edit the intervals of your spreadsheets, you probably want to know if this edition that you have done was done correctly. The easiest way you’re going to be able to do this is to tell one of the users you’ve shared this sheet with to try to write in the section you protected . This way, you’ll get a warning when they try to write to that section.
How can you unlock a spreadsheet in Google Drive if required?
In case you want to unlock a spreadsheet that you have in Drive and you want to remove the protection, you will have to do this:
- You are going to open the spreadsheet to edit in your Drive.
- Then, in the data section you are going to click on ‘Protect Intervals and sheets’.
- In the tab that will appear, you will click ‘Cancel’.
- Finally, you are going to choose the protection you want to delete and click ‘Delete’. This will unprotect the spreadsheet.