How to Save File as Read-Only in Excel & Google Sheets

This tutorial demonstrates how to save a file as read-only in Excel and Google Sheets.

 

Save as Read-Only

An Excel file can be saved as read-only to prevent users from inadvertently changing the content. When a user opens a read-only file, they need to enable editing.

1. To enable read-only mode, in the Ribbon, go to File > Info.
2. Click Protect Workbook.
3. Then click Always Open Read-Only.

As a result, the user is asked to enable editing every time the file is opened.

When you click Edit Anyway, you can work in the file.

Protect With a Password

You can also password-protect an Excel file to make it read-only. In this case, a user can enter a password to edit a file or open it in read-only mode. There is no Edit Anyway option.

1. In the Ribbon, go to the File tab, and choose Save As.

2. Choose Browse.

3. In the Save As window, go to Tools > General Options.

4. In the General Options window, type in a Password to modify, and then click OK.

5. Reenter the password, and then click OK.

6. In the Save As window, click Save.

Now when you open the file, you get a prompt to enter a password to modify the file. If a user doesn’t have a password, they can open the file as read-only.

Set Permissions to Protect a Google Sheet

In Google Sheets, there isn’t a read-only setting like there is in Excel. To protect a range or a whole sheet from changes, you have to set permissions.

1. In the Menu, go to Data > Protected sheets and ranges.

2. The Protected sheets and ranges section appears on the right side. Click Add a sheet or range.

3. Type in a description of the protection. Then under Sheet, choose a sheet to protect and click Set permissions.

4. You have three options for editing permissions:

• Show a warning when editing
• Only the owner of the file can edit
• Specify users who can edit the file

For this example, leave the default option (so that only the owner can edit the file) and click Done.

As a result, if anyone other than the owner tries to edit the sheet, Google Sheets rejects the changes.

Change Permissions – Google Sheets

There’s also the option to change permissions so that Google Sheets displays a warning when you’re editing the sheet.

1. In the Protect sheets & ranges window, click Change permissions.

2. Choose Show a warning when editing this range, and then click Done.

3. Now if you try to change any cell in the sheet, you get the warning shown in the picture below. Click OK in order to allow the changes; Click Cancel if the edits are unnecessary.

Specify Users

Another option is to specify users (by email address) who can edit the file.

1. In the Range editing permissions window (see Step 2 in the previous section), choose Restrict who can edit this range.
2. Choose Custom from the drop-down list.
3. In the Add editors box, type in the names or email addresses of users.
4. Then click Done.

As a result, only those users specified in Step 4 have access to edit the Google Sheets file.

Tip: Also see how to track changes and share files.