One of the common error Microsoft Excel error is VALUE!. This error occurs when your formula has the wrong type of argument (i.e., a mix of text and numeric fields). You can fix this error if you use functions instead of operators & check that you’re referencing the correct cells.
We are going to study the protection of cells available in Excel so as not to allow the modification of cells by mistake or by not having permission to do so.
In addition to password protection for workbooks, Excel offers several orders to protect the cells of the workbook. For this we have to perform two operations: the first consisting of protecting the cells that we don’t want to suffer variations, and the second consisting of protecting the sheet.
When a cell is blocked it can’t suffer variations. Actually by default all the cells are protected or blocked so that they do not suffer changes, but we do not realize because the sheet is not protected, so that the cells are actually blocked before the spreadsheet has to be protected.
To unblock the cells that we want to vary at some point, follow these steps:
Select the range of cells that we want to unblock to make variations.
Select the menu Home → Format.
Choose the option Format Cells…
Click on the Protection tab. The following window will appear:
Deactivate the Locked box and click on the OK button.
If the Hidden box is activated, what is intended is that the formula or the value of the cell can’t be displayed in the formula bar.
The operations of the Protect tab have no effect if we don’t protect the spreadsheet, therefore we will have to carry out the following steps:
Select the menu Home → Format.
Select the option Protect sheet…
The Protect Sheet dialog box appears:
Leave the box Protect worksheet and content of locked cells activated to protect the contents of the cells in the active sheet.
Activate the desired options in the Allow users of this worksheet to box, so that the protection for the selected modification has no effect and deactivate it to take protection into account.
If we want to assign a password so that only the person who knows the password can check out the sheet, write it in the Password box.
Click on the OK button.
If we have entered a password, it will ask for password confirmation, therefore, we will have to retype it and click on the OK button.
From now on, the active sheet is protected, so it will not be possible to modify those cells that were blocked at first.
If we want to unprotect the sheet, we will perform the same steps as in the protection, that is:
Select the menu Home → Format.
Select the option Unprotect sheet…
If we had assigned a password, it will ask for it, so we will have to write it and click on the OK button. If there was no password assigned, it automatically checks it out.
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