Password Protect Excel Files

How to keep an Excel workbook safe by encrypting it with a password.

This will make it so that a user cannot open the Excel file unless they have the correct password.

Steps to Encrypt a Workbook with a Password in Excel 2007

1. Click the Office Button then select New to create a Blank Workbook:

2. Go to the Prepare tab:

3. Click the Encrypt Document button:

4. Enter the password that you want to use to open the Excel file and hit OK:

5. You will need to re-enter the password and hit OK again:

5. That's it, you're DONE.

Note: USE A PASSWORD THAT YOU WILL EASILY REMEMBER!!!

Download: Sample Encrypted Workbook

We included a sample Excel file for this tutorial that has been password protected.
You can download it and see what it's like to use this feature.

The password is: 123456

(do not ever use this as a password for your files - this was done here to make it easy for you to use)