RE: Hide and protect

Hello Karen

Thank you for your question.

In order for someone to be able to enter data into columns M and N, you would need to unlock the cells in these columns, then apply protection to the sheet.

To speed up the process of doing this to every single sheet, it would be a good idea to record a macro, and then you can play the macro on each sheet. Still a bit time-consuming, but better than carrying out the same steps manually on each sheet.

Try the following:
1. Start the macro recorder (Tools - Macro - Record New Macro), and give the macro a name (without any spaces in it). Click OK to start recording.
2. Select columns M and N, right-click on top of the selected cells and go to Format Cells. On the Protection tab, uncheck the Locked option and click OK.
3. If required, also select and hide the columns that need to be hidden (assuming that this hasn't been done already on each sheet).
4. Apply protection by going to Tools - Protection - Protect Sheet, and click OK.
5. Stop the macro recorder by pressing the Stop button on the small toolbar on the screen; or going to Tools - Macro - Stop Recording.

Test the macro on another sheet to make sure it works properly: Tools - Macro - Macros, select the macro and click Run.

You may like to add a button to your toolbar to run the macro rather than having to go through the Tools menu on each sheet: Tools - Customise - Commands tab. Select Macros under Categories on the left, select the Custom button from the right; drag and drop this onto a toolbar at the top of the screen.

To attach the macro to the button: right-click on the button and go to Assign Macro, select the macro and click OK. You can also change the button display from the shortcut (right-click) menu.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards
Amanda