How do I protect part of a spreadsheet & allow others to add to it?

[WellManneredFrivolity]

Hello,
I have an Excel document that is on a shared drive with another department where I work. I need to be able to enter information into certain columns & keep those columns protected (this other department has managed to disorganize the information in the past), while allowing others the capability of adding columns as they choose. This other department must be able to view the information I input without being able to edit it at all, but they MUST be able to sort the information by column header. I'm not sure if sorting is what caused them to screw the file up in the past or not, but I want to ensure that all the information in any given row will not "jump" to another row, even in a sort.

Others have suggested to me to add macros & keep re-saving it, but this won't work for me, as I won't be the one adding the information, & I don't want them having access to it while it's unprotected.

Let me know if you have ANY suggestions here. Thanks so much!

 

[Andrew Poulsom]

Welcome to MrExcel.

This may help you:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289270

 

[apr pillai]

1. Right-Click on the intersection (left top corner) of the rows and columns to select the entire worksheet and display the shortcut menu.
2. Format Cells... from the shortcut menu.
3. Remove the check-mark from the Lock Cells option.
4. Now, highlight your data range on the worksheet.
5. Right-click the highlighted area and select Format Cells... from the displayed shortcut menu.
6. Put the check-mark in the Lock Cells option.
7. Select Protect option from the Review menu.
8. Set a password, if necessary.

Your protected range cannot be changed by others. I am not sure about the Sorting part. You may try it out to make sure.

 

[WellManneredFrivolity]

Hello,
I have an Excel document that is on a shared drive with another department where I work. I need to be able to enter information into certain columns & keep those columns protected (this other department has managed to disorganize the information in the past), while allowing others the capability of adding columns as they choose. This other department must be able to view the information I input without being able to edit it at all, but they MUST be able to sort the information by column header. I'm not sure if sorting is what caused them to screw the file up in the past or not, but I want to ensure that all the information in any given row will not "jump" to another row, even in a sort.

Others have suggested to me to add macros & keep re-saving it, but this won't work for me, as I won't be the one adding the information, & I don't want them having access to it while it's unprotected.

Let me know if you have ANY suggestions here. Thanks so much!

Thank you for the quick responses! The lock cells, then password protect option is working out great, with the exception of sorting. I did choose the option to allow others to sort when I was password protecting the sheet, but it's still not allowing anyone to sort the data.

I also just found out that the main user in the other department prefers to use the filter option instead of sort, so this throws a whole new wrench into the works, as I don't see "filter" in the password protect options, & you can't use it if the document is protected. Any other ideas? Thanks in advance!