Setting a password to unhide columns

Hi

I want to have a file that can be viewed and edited by many people in an office but have certain columns remaining hidden unless you know a password

I can't use tools.protectection.protect sheet because this stops anyone editing the cells unless they know the password

Thanks a lot!

Andrew

Good morning Andrew

This is actually a common misconception about Excels' protection feature. Highlight all the cells you want people to edit and press ctrl + 1. Go to protection and uncheck the Locked box. Then hide your columns and rows and anything else. Now you can invoke the worksheet protection and put your password in.

One caveat I always state when answering questions re Excel's protection : it is not that secure and can be broken fairly easily, it's OK to stop casual users changing things they shouldn't, but if someone really wants to mess up your system they can do. Motto : always back-up your work to a secure area.

HTH

DominicB