Protecting an Excel file on a shared drive

[BakerUK]

Hi,

There might be an easier way to do this and I'm open to suggestions. But basically I want to leave a file on a network drive for users to access but ensure no-one can make any changes.

Can I fix it permanently to read-only when anyone opens it? Or should I just manage this with password-protected sheets instead?

Thanks in advance

Baker

 

[Eric W]

Protecting an Excel spreadsheet is always a bit problematic. The security built in is not very secure. There are a few options.

1) Keep a copy on your drive, and if you notice the network copy has changed, replace it with your copy.

2) Password protect the sheets like you mention. You'd have to lock the cells, and probably disallow selecting the locked cells. You may want to protect the workbook so they can't add or delete sheets.

3) Add some event macros that disallow saving. Fairly easy to do, although it requires VBA, and then you'd have to protect the VBA project with a password too. And it's still not especially secure.

Probably easiest to use option 1 or 2, and click the read-only option on the file properties. That will prevent people from casually changing it. If someone really wants to change it, they can bypass all your security, so it's probably not worth option 3.

Hope this helps!

 

[BakerUK]

Thanks Eric, I really appreciate this!