You can share a workbook so that people can type in the input cells, but cannot change or delete your formulas.
How locking works in Excel
Every cell is locked by default, but locking does nothing until you protect the sheet. So the process is: unlock the cells people should edit, then protect the sheet.
Step by step
- Select the cells where users should type (the input cells).
- Press Ctrl + 1 to open Format Cells and go to the Protection tab.
- Untick Locked and click OK.
- Go to Review → Protect Sheet.
- Choose a password (optional but recommended) and decide what users can do, such as select unlocked cells, format cells or sort.
- Click OK.
Hide formulas too
Before protecting, select the formula cells, open Format Cells → Protection and tick Hidden. After the sheet is protected, the formulas no longer show in the formula bar.
Select the formula cells quickly
Press F5 → Special → Formulas to select every cell that contains a formula.
Important notes
- Do not forget the password. Excel cannot recover it for you.
- Sheet protection stops accidental changes. It is not strong security.
- To protect the whole file from opening, use File → Info → Protect Workbook.