You can lock cells in Excel if you want to protect cells from being edited. In this example, we will lock cell A2. Before you start: by default, all cells are locked. However, locking cells has no effect until you protect the worksheet. So when you protect a worksheet, all your cells (=worksheet) will be locked.
Also, what to do when Excel is locked by another user?
If you are receiving locked for editing by another user or your program is not responding then click End Now. On the File menu, tap to the Exit Task Manager. If any other user is also working on the same excel file at the same time then you have the two options to perform. The first one is, either you can wait till that person releases the file.
File in use or locked for editing error occurs when Excel fails to close properly, therefore, failing to save the file accordingly. The file could be opened by another user when open in a shared network. In this case, you can only open in Read-Only mode and receive a notification when the file is ready for editing.
Then, how to unlock locked Excel document when not open?
One frequent answer is, login to server as admin. Expand Shared Folders and go to Open Files. Find document and right click and Close Open File.
Why excel says file is locked?
There are lots of causes can trigger this type of error: File in use or locked for editing error occurs when Excel fails to close properly, therefore, failing to save the file accordingly. The file could be opened by another user when open in a shared network.
Then, why has my file been locked?
If you have locked the file yourself, it might be because the file is open on a different device, or the previous instance of the file didn’t close properly. Tip: Sometimes a file may get locked if everyone editing isn’t using a version that supports co-authoring.
How do I stop Excel from locking when editing?
In the Task Manager Warning dialog box, click Yes. If you are receiving locked for editing by another user or your program is not responding then click End Now. On the File menu, tap to the Exit Task Manager. If any other user is also working on the same excel file at the same time then you have the two options to perform.
One query we ran across in our research was “How do I lock a formula in Excel?”.
One source proposed right, Click, and select Format Cells from the options that appeared in the context menu. Select the Protection tab and uncheck the Locked and Hidden option as well and then click OK. Now here we need to lock the cells where we have entered the formula.
To keep an area of a worksheet visible while you scroll to another area of the worksheet, go to the View tab, where you can Freeze Panes to lock specific rows and columns in place, or you can Split panes to create separate windows of the same worksheet.