05 Feb How to set permissions for protected Google Sheets

Google Sheets: We’ve previously looked at how to protect a range in Google Sheets, now let’s look at how to protect a Sheet except for a certain range, which you can set permissions for certain users to be able to edit. 

This tip is particularly useful if you require one or a number of people to collaborate on a Sheet, but you want to control and specify who can input data and where, whilst protecting the rest of the content in the Sheet.

To protect your sheet, you need to head up to ‘Data’ on the navigation bar and scroll down to ‘Protected Sheets and Ranges…’

A toolbar will appear down the right hand side, which will give you the option to protect a Sheet or range. For this example, you want to click on Sheet.

Next, select ‘Except certain cells’ and highlight the cells you want a certain person or group of people to be able to edit.

You will see the blue ‘Set permissions’ button. Select this option. You will be prompted to edit who can see this range, and the default will be on ‘Only you’.

Opt for ‘Customised…’ and this will prompt you to input the name or names of those who you want permission to edit the selected range. If you select a person that you haven’t yet shared the file with, you will be prompted to do so.

As an alternative, you could go into the standard sharing settings, and include a message, letting the person know that you have given them access to a sheet and the range you would like them to edit.

You can create as many rules for the Sheet as you want, by selecting ‘Add another range’ on the right hand side toolbar. Here, you could select an alternative range of cells and set permissions for another user.

For more handy tips like this, visit our Google Apps Tips blog for weekly updates.