OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources]

1.

Select Cells to Protect

Select the cell or the range of cells you want to protect. (Hold

Ctrl and click to select multiple cells in a range.) These cells can contain data, be empty, or contain formulas. Also, if you've stored a graphic image in a cell, you can protect that image from being moved or overwritten.

2.

Request Cell Protection

Select

Format, Cells from the menu. The

Format Cells dialog box appears.

3.

Adjust Cell Protection

Click the

Cell Protection tab to display the

Cell Protection page within the

Format Cells dialog box. If you click to select the

Hide all option, the contents of the selected cells will not appear when the spreadsheet is viewed. The

Protected option keeps the selected cells from being changed. The

Hide formula option hides any formulas in the protected cells, if any formulas reside there.

NOTE

When you hide formulas, the user cannot see them but can still see the cell values that result from the formulas.

TIPS

If you want to protect all the sheets in the file, choose

Tools, Protect Document, Document .

For additional security, you can add a digital signature to your spreadsheet by choosing

File, Digital Signatures and adding a signature in the

Digital Signatures dialog box. A

digital signature is information that travels with your document and verifies that you created or modified the document.

Click the

Hide when printing option if you don't want the cells to appear when the user prints the spreadsheet. Once you've indicated the protection, click

OK to close the

Format Cells dialog box and apply the protection to your spreadsheet.

4.

Request Sheet Protection

Select

Tools, Protect Document, Sheet to open the

Protect Sheet dialog box.

5.

Type a Password

In the

Protect Sheet dialog box, type a password, press

Tab , and type the password once more. The password does not show on the screen in case someone is looking over your shoulder. The second typing of the password ensures that you typed it correctly the first time.

Once you type the password and click

OK , you've protected the spreadsheet. Any cells that you now designate as protected (or have before) will now be protected. No user can change the contents of those protected cells without first removing the protection from the entire sheet by selecting

Tools, Protect Document, Sheet once again and entering the correct password.