How to Lock Hidden Columns in Excel

This post will guide you how to lock hidden columns in Excel 2010/2/13/2016. How do I protect and lock hidden columns in Excel.

Lock and Protect Hidden Columns

You can try to hide the selected columns or unhide them again. But if you want to lock all hidden columns in your worksheet. How to do it. Here are the steps:

#1 select one or two columns that you want to hide. And right click on it, and select Hide from the popup menu list.

#2 select all your data or click Select All button at the intersection of the row number and column letter.

#3 right click on it, and select Format Cells from the popup menu list. And the Format Cells dialog will open.

#4 switch to Protection tab, and make sure boot the Locked and Hidden Check boxes are selected. Click OK button.

#5 go to REVIEW tab, click Protect Sheet command under Changes group. And the Protect sheet dialog will open.

#6 type your password to protect your worksheet. And reenter password to protect. Click Ok button.

#7 the hidden columns have been locked. And you are not able to unhide them.