How to configure password for Excel file to prevent unauthorized file open
Sometimes your keep sensitive data like your personal information, credit card data, your company's revenue, health related data etc in Excel file. It is dangerous to store or carry these types of data as plain text because there is a possibility of losing your sensitive data to bad guys.
You can password protect (by encryption) your Excel files for more security, to prevent unauthorized file open.
Method 1 - How to password protect Excel files from unauthorized file open via General Options dialog box
Step 1 - Open "Save As" dialog box from "Save As" menu in Excel Backstage View, as shown below.
Step 2 - Click down arrow on "Tools" Split button and click "General Options" from menu, as shown in below image.
Step 3 - Enter password for Excel file to open and click "OK", as shown in below image.
Step 4 - Confirm password and click "OK" as shown in below image.
Tip
• The maximum number of characters that can be used in password is 255 (in Excel 2019).• The password is case-sensitive. Means that "password" and "Password" are different.
• Never use common words used in our daily life as password. Hackers can easily crack your password by a dictionary attack.
• Never use a password that is impossible to remember (You may not be able to open your file for ever, if you cannot remember the password.
Step 4 - Click "Save" button to finish saving the configured password, as shown in below image.
Step 5 - Note that in this example, the file name we used to save is same as the existing file we opened to configure the password. This action will result in replacing the original Excel file with password protected file.
Click "Yes" to confirm replacing the original Excel file with password protected Excel file.
When you try to open the Excel file next time, Excel program will prompt you to key-in the password to open the Excel file, as shown in below image.
Method 2 - How to password protect Excel files from unauthorized file open via Excel Backstage View
You can achieve the same results explained above via Excel Backstage View also. Follow below steps to password protect Excel files from unauthorized file open via Excel Backstage View.
Step 1 - Open Excel Backstage view by clicking "File" Tab in Excel Ribbon.
Step 2 - Click "Info" menu in Excel Backstage view, click "Protect Workbook" Split button and then click "Encrypt with Password" from Drop-down menu as shown in below image.
Step 3 - Enter password for Excel file to open and click "OK", as shown in below image.
Step 4 - Confirm password and click "OK" as shown in below image.
Step 5 - A message is displayed at "Excel Backstage view" > "Info" > "Protect Work book" as shown below to inform you that password is configured.
"A password is required to open the workbook"
Save the Excel file.
When you try to open the Excel file next time, Excel program will prompt you to key-in the password to open the Excel file, as shown in below image.
