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You need to lock the total formula in Excel without locking

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the quantity and price inputs.

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In this fictional order calculator, three units at twelve dollars and

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fifty cents make thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents.

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The useful check has two sides: an input edit must work,

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and an attempt to replace the formula must fail while sheet protection is on.

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Download the practice workbook and open a disposable copy in Excel for the web.

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Cell B2 holds quantity three, C2 holds unit price twelve point

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five, and D2 holds the exact formula equals B2 times C2.

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Confirm the formula bar shows that expression before changing protection.

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A typed total would not test whether the formula remains intact.

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In Excel for the web, open Review and then Manage Protection.

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Microsoft's web guidance places the protected-sheet and unlocked-range controls there.

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Check that this control is present in your tenant before applying the instructions.

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The desktop Format Cells route is a different workflow, so keep

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this practice on the web path or use a separately documented desktop method.

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Turn on Protect sheet and add B2 through C2 as an Unlocked range.

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Do not include D2.

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The spreadsheet's formula cell stays protected by default when the sheet

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is protected, while the named input range can still be edited.

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Read the range address twice; B2 through D2 would accidentally unlock

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the formula you are trying to safeguard.

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With protection on, change the fictional quantity from three to four.

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At a unit price of twelve dollars and fifty cents, the

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total should become fifty dollars.

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That is the allowed-edit side of the test.

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Return the quantity to three afterward; the original thirty-seven dollar

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and fifty cent total should come back from the same formula.

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Next, try replacing D2 with nine hundred ninety-nine in the protected practice copy. Cancel the attempt.

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The total cell should reject replacement, and its formula should still

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read equals B2 times C2.

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If it accepts the typed value, either sheet protection is off

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or the unlocked range includes D2.

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Recheck the setup before calling this done.

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This method helps prevent accidental formula edits.

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Microsoft explicitly cautions that worksheet protection is not a

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security feature, so do not use it to protect confidential prices or personal data.

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The workbook and answer check let you reproduce both outcomes with fictional numbers.

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Check the control and blocked-edit message in your own tenant before

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relying on the protection setup.