How To Securely Lock Google Sheets For Collaboration

Google Sheets is a powerful tool for collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same document in real-time.

However, with great power comes great responsibility, and it’s important to make sure that your Sheets are secure to avoid any unwanted changes or access to sensitive information.

One of the best ways to secure your Google Sheets is by using the “Lock” feature.

This feature allows you to lock specific cells or ranges, preventing other users from editing them.

This is particularly useful for protecting important data or formulas that should not be changed.

How To Lock A Cell Or Range In Google Sheets

Locking a cell or range in Google Sheets is easy and can be done in just a few simple steps:

Select the cell or range that you want to lock
Right-click on the selected cells
Select “Protect range” or “Protect sheet” from the drop-down menu
A dialog box will appear, asking you to set a password (if desired) and to choose the users or groups that should have access to the locked cells.

How To Share A Locked Sheet With Others

Once you have locked your cells or ranges, you can still share the sheet with others.

Simply follow these steps:

Click the “Share” button in the top right corner of the sheet
Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share the sheet with
Select the level of access you want to give them (view or edit)
Click “Send”

Users with edit access will be able to edit any unlocked cells or ranges, but will not be able to make changes to the locked cells or ranges.

How To Unlock A Cell Or Range

If you need to make changes to a locked cell or range, you can easily unlock it by following these steps:

Select the locked cell or range
Right-click on the selected cells
Select “Unprotect range” or “Unprotect sheet” from the drop-down menu
Enter the password (if set)

It is important to note that once a cell or range is unlocked, it will remain unlocked until it is locked again.

So make sure to lock it again after making any necessary changes.

How To Track Changes In A Locked Sheet

One of the most important aspects of collaboration is being able to track changes made by others.

Google Sheets has a built-in feature that allows you to do just that.

To enable change tracking, follow these steps:

Select “Tools” from the top menu
Click “Protect sheet and range”
Select “Sheet” or “Range”
Check “Track changes”
Click “OK”

This will enable change tracking for the entire sheet, or for the selected range.

You can then view the changes made by others by clicking “Review” in the top menu and selecting “See revision history.”

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