If you build a complex financial tracker or a team schedule in Google Sheets, sharing the document with colleagues is essential. However, the last thing you want is for a coworker to accidentally delete a complicated formula or overwrite a crucial data column. To prevent accidental sabotage, Google Sheets allows you to lock specific cells, rows, or columns, making them completely uneditable by anyone except you.
How to Lock a Range of Cells
You can apply a protection layer over any highlighted area in your spreadsheet.
- Open your document in Google Sheets.
- Click and drag your mouse to highlight the specific cells you want to protect (for example, the entire column containing your formulas).
- Right-click anywhere inside the highlighted area.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the context menu, click View more cell actions, and select Protect range.
- A sidebar will appear on the right side of the screen. Type a brief description of what you are locking (e.g., “Tax Formulas”) so you remember later.
- Click the green Set permissions button.
Setting the Permissions
A new popup window will appear asking who is allowed to edit the locked cells.
- By default, the setting is “Restrict who can edit this range.”
- Click the dropdown menu below it and select Only you. (Alternatively, you can choose “Custom” to allow one specific manager to edit the cells while blocking everyone else).
- Click the Done button.
Your formulas and critical data are now locked. If an unauthorized collaborator clicks on the protected cells and tries to type, Google Sheets will instantly block their input and display a red error message warning them that the cell is protected.