14. Protection, Sharing and Printing
14.2 Hiding Formulas and Allow Edit Ranges
Steps in Excel
- Hide formulas: select formula cells › Ctrl + 1 › Protection › tick Hidden › protect the sheet. The formula bar now shows nothing for those cells (the result is still visible).
- Allow Edit Ranges (different people edit different ranges): Review › Protect › Allow Edit Ranges › New… › Title
PuneTargets, Refers to=$C$4, optional range password › OK. Repeat for other ranges. Then click Protect Sheet in the same dialog. (In some Microsoft 365 builds this appears under Review › Protect › Allow Edit Ranges or inside the Protection menu – may vary by version.) - In a company network, Permissions… in the same dialog can allow specific Windows users without a password.
Worked example. The Nagpur manager gets the range password for C9 only; the Pune manager (Ravindra Bagale) gets the password for C4. Each can change only their own city's target; all formulas are hidden and locked.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Khup students samajtat ki formula Hidden kela mhanje to "secret" zala – pan sheet protect kelya shivay Hidden cha kahich parinam hot nahi, aani sheet protection todna sope aahe. Hidden formulas fakt chukun badal talnyasathi vapra, gupit (confidential) logic lapvnyasathi nahi.
Practice task
Hide the formulas in D4:E9, create two Allow Edit Ranges (Pune C4, Nagpur C9) with different passwords, protect the sheet and test both passwords.