how to protect only certain cells

[No1MrED]

Need to prevent changes to formula cells, only allow input in a few cells

[fcosta]

The answers seem very comprehensive to me.
Shouldn’t this question be closed?

[librebel]

Hello @No1MrED,

Cell protection is only effective after the sheet has been protected.

4. Right-click inside a cell that must be protected, and select the menuitem “Format Cells…”;
5. In the dialog that pops up, select the tab “Cell Protection”;
6. Under “Protection”, check the checkbox “Protected”;
7. Click OK;
8. Now Select the menu “Tools : Protect Sheet”;
9. In the dialog that pops up, check the checkbox “Protect this sheet and the contents of protected cells”;
10. Set password and further settings as desired, and click OK.

HTH, lib

[peterwt]

Note that when you create a new spreadsheet the default setting for all cells is protected. So right click in the cells you want to be available for input and on the “Cell Protection” Tab uncheck “Protected”.

[realrachelbutler]

Thank you. This is the confounding part for me. I spent hours protecting cells and then the sheet to find I couldn’t edit unprotected cells. This info should be part of the original answer. In order to protect some cells one must use the backwards action of unprotecting the cells available for editing.