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Lesson 95 of 104 2 min Updated Completed

How to Protect Workbook Structure

Protect Workbook locks the workbook’s structure: nobody can add, delete, move, copy, rename, hide or unhide sheets. (To stop changes to cells, use Protect Sheet.)

  1. Open the workbook.

  2. On the Review tab, click Protect Workbook.

    Protect Workbook on the Review tab

  3. Make sure Structure is ticked, type a password, and click OK.

    Ticking Structure and entering a password

  4. Type the password again and click OK.

    Confirming the password

Result: right-click a sheet tab, and the options to insert, delete, rename, move, hide and unhide sheets are greyed out.

Sheet options greyed out after protecting the workbook

To remove the protection, click Protect Workbook again, type the password (here, protect), and click OK.

Unprotecting the workbook with the password

Note: The Windows option (to lock the window size and position) is only available in Excel 2010 and earlier, and in Excel for Mac.