Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Visually Showing a Protection Status.

Visually Showing a Protection Status

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 22, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


1

Todd has developed a workbook used by others. To prevent data from being ruined, he's protected the worksheet as well as the workbook. The problem is, Todd sometimes forgets to protect the worksheet and workbook after making changes. He is wondering if there is a way to create a visual indicator that shows whether the worksheet/workbook is currently protected or unprotected.

Of course, the easiest way to check to see if something is unprotected is to just start looking at the tools on the various ribbon tabs. If the full range of tools is there, then the worksheet and workbook are unprotected. If there are significant numbers of tools that are unavailable ("grayed out"), then protection is turned on.

Another easy solution is to create a user-defined function that returns a value indicating whether the workbook or worksheet are protected. The following will do the trick:

Function WksProtected(rng As Range) As String
    Application.Volatile
    If rng.Parent.ProtectContents Then
        WksProtected = "Protected"
    Else
        WksProtected = "Not Protected"
    End If
End Function
Function WkbProtected(rng As Range) As String
    Application.Volatile
    If rng.Parent.Parent.ProtectStructure Then
        WkbProtected = "Protected"
    Else
        WkbProtected = "Not Protected"
    End If
End Function

To use the macros, just include formulas like the following anywhere in the worksheet:

=WksProtected(A1)
=WkbProtected(A1)

The result of the formulas is either "Protected" or "Not Protected," depending on the state of the worksheets and workbook. You could use conditional formatting to highlight the cells based on what is returned by the functions.

Remember: The value from the functions is only updated if the worksheet is recalculated. If all you do is protect (or unprotect) the worksheet, that doesn't result in the worksheet being recalculated. So to see the proper results after changing the protection status, you'll need to make sure you recalculate the worksheet.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9639) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Visually Showing a Protection Status.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Counting Colors of Cells

Many people use colors of cells as a common method of communicating information in a worksheet. If you need a way to ...

Discover More

Naming Tabs for Weeks

Need to set up a workbook that includes a worksheet for each week of the year? Here's a couple of quick macros that can ...

Discover More

Calculating TV Time

In some industries it is necessary to work with time resolutions of less than a second. If you need to keep track of such ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Functioning Check Boxes in a Protected Worksheet

Want to protect a worksheet but maintain the ability to make changes to the check boxes you add to the worksheet? Here is ...

Discover More

Limiting Input by Time of Day

Excel provides some great tools that allow you to limit what is entered into a worksheet. This tip looks at how those ...

Discover More

Inserting and Deleting Rows in a Protected Worksheet

You've protected and saved your worksheet with explicit instructions that you be allowed to insert and delete rows. But ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 + 0?

2022-01-22 11:18:16

J. Woolley

My Excel Toolbox includes the following function to return the protection status (TRUE/FALSE) of Target's worksheet or workbook:
=IsProtected([Choice],[Target])
Choice for a worksheet is Contents (default), Shapes, Interface, or Scenarios
and Choice for a workbook is Sheets (structure) or Windows.
Target's default is the formula's cell.
The Tip's two example formulas are equivalent to the following:
=IF(IsProtected("contents",A1),"","Not")&" Protected"
=IF(IsProtected("sheets",A1),"","Not")&" Protected"

My Excel Toolbox also includes this dynamic array function to return the status of the 12 protection options for the formula cell's worksheet:
=ListProtectionOptions()
In older versions of Excel you can use it with the SpillArray function like this:
=SpillArray(ListProtectionOptions())
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.