Google Sheets: Protect Cells

Google Sheets is a great productivity tool with just about every function a user could want. Among the slightly lesser-known but easily most useful, is the ability to protect fields and data ranges.

This function allows you to protect certain fields from accidental editing while you work on them in a collaborative arrangement. You can stop others from editing some of the cells in the file. You can place all sorts of custom restrictions, and here’s how:

First, open your Google Sheets file and click on the Data option in the ribbon menu. Halfway down, you’ll find the option Protected sheets and ranges. Click on it.

A side panel will open and show you the options for setting a protected range. Click into the text field there and select the sheet and cells you want to protect there.

When you have your fields or sheets selected, click the Set permissions button at the bottom. You’ll then be prompted to restrict who can edit the fields. You will always be able to, but you can set custom restrictions on who else can and can’t. You can give permission to other users on a one by one basis, or you can just show a warning to anyone who wants to edit the field.

Tip: You can set restrictions for individual cells, ranges of cells, or even entire sheets in one go if you want. Use the side panel to add restrictions to whatever you’d like!

To delete a range that you’ve already placed, use the side panel again – click on one that you’ve already created, and then click on the trashcan symbol in order to delete it!