How To Encrypt an Excel File (With Steps)

1. Select File > Info.
2. Select the Protect Workbook box and choose Encrypt with Password.
3. Enter a password in the Password box, and then select OK.
4. Confirm the password in the Reenter Password box, and then select OK.

How to Encrypt Microsoft Excel Documents

When to encrypt an Excel file

There are several situations where you might want to give your personal files an additional layer of security. In the following situations, you might think about encrypting a file on Microsoft Excel:

Personal information

If you have a worksheet with delicate personal information about you or other people, that’s one situation where you might want to password-protect an Excel file. To keep track of employee contact information, including phone numbers, emails, and home addresses, many workplaces use programs like Excel. To chart payment data or history, which may include employee banking information, HR departments may use organization tools like Excel. Encryption can make accessing these files by hackers or other unauthorized parties more challenging.

Financial data

Any Excel file that contains financial information is another type that you might want to encrypt. Competitors may attempt to hack into files for businesses to learn past financial information and other details like sales, profits, losses, and total revenue. Investments, partnerships, and purchases are examples of sensitive business practices that could benefit from an additional layer of security in the form of a password or code.

Legal history

Many people and businesses prioritize maintaining the privacy of their legal histories and information, so it’s crucial to encrypt spreadsheets that contain this type of information. Protecting your data with a password can help maintain the reputation and success of your company, business, or personal livelihood as hackers may have the intention of finding information regarding legalities and past conflicts. Lawsuits, court appearances, arrests, probation, warnings, tickets, violations, and any other private legal information are examples of legal history you might want to encrypt.

What does it mean to encrypt an Excel file?

When a file is encrypted, private or sensitive digital materials are protected using a unique key that is typically in the form of a daily password selected by the file’s owner. It’s a type of security designed to stop potentially harmful people or groups from getting access to information they shouldn’t. The need for encryption has grown as technology has advanced because more and more people, businesses, governments, and organizations are storing sensitive information digitally. While password protection is the most popular way to encrypt files, other techniques include coding text and a series of numbers that must be broken with a special key.

How to encrypt an Excel file

Here is a step-by-step tutorial that will explain how to encrypt a file on Microsoft Excel.

1. Open Excel application

Open the Excel program on your computer and go to the “File” section in the top ribbon of the screen as the first step in encrypting an Excel file. Go to “Info,” which ought to be a sizable pane with numerous tools for modifying your workbook, including “Inspect Workbook” and “Version History.” You can start encrypting your file by scrolling to the option that says “Protect Workbook.”

2. Open “Protect Workbook”

Once you’ve found the “Protect Workbook” tab, click on it to bring up a drop-down menu with a selection of options. Search the drop-down menu until you find “Encrypt with Password” This is where you’ll enter a password to protect your Excel document from users who don’t know the necessary code.

3. Choose a password

The following step is selecting the password you want to use to secure your Excel file. It’s important to pick a password for any Microsoft application that you can remember because Microsoft cannot retrieve passwords like you can with an email or social media account. Once you choose a password that is distinct and robust enough to fend off hackers, write it down and store it in a safe location where you can access it later if necessary.

4. Enter your encryption password

The program will ask you to enter a new password to secure that specific Excel file after you click “Encrypt with Password.” Put your new password in the box provided, then click “OK.” After that, Excel will ask you to enter the password again to make sure it matches and is, therefore, the one you meant to enter. Once you confirm the password, your Excel worksheet should be encrypted. To do this, simply press “OK” once more.

5. Test your password

Running a test after encrypting a file in Excel will ensure that the worksheet is protected from users outside of the application. Open the Excel application and select “Recent” files from the sidebar on the home screen. Find the file you want to open, click “Open,” and the program should prompt you for a password. To check whether you were granted access or not, enter the password you selected for that particular file and click “OK.”

6. Share the password with authorized parties

The last step after encrypting your Excel file is to make sure that everyone who should have access to it can do so using the password you gave the worksheet. Consider sharing a password with someone in person or over a secure communication channel, like a written note. To make sure they can access the files’ contents, you might ask the recipients to try the password.

FAQ

How do I Encrypt an Excel spreadsheet without the password?

1. Open the password-protected Excel spreadsheet, then click “OK.” ” .
2. Click on the “File” tab, then click on “Info.”
3. For a drop-down menu, click the “Protect Workbook” box.
4. Remove the displayed password to leave the field empty.

Does password protecting an Excel File Encrypt it?

When you encrypt an Excel file and lock it with a password, the password serves as both the encryption key and the decryption key. The intended victim would require the same password to open the file.

How do you zip and Encrypt an Excel File?

1. Open WinZip and click Encrypt in the Actions pane.
2. Drag and drop your files to the center NewZip. when the dialog box appears, open the zip pane and enter a password. Click OK.
3. Select Encryption Settings by clicking the Options tab in the Actions pane. Set the level of encryption and click Save.