Let’s look at each one of these methods!
Excel file is read-only
You may not be able to edit any cell in Excel because the Excel worksheet has been saved as read-only. This will force Excel to keep the worksheet in view mode and you can make no changes in the file.
To fix this, simply press the Enable Editing button on the top of the Excel worksheet.
On you press that button, you can easily edit any cell in Excel.
Excel worksheet is locked
Another reason why you may not be able to edit cells is that your Excel worksheet has been locked. You have to unprotect your worksheet first and then you can make changes in your file.
To make changes in Excel, follow the steps below:
STEP 1: Go to the Review tab
STEP 2: Click on Unprotect Sheet
STEP 3: Enter the password in the unprotect sheet dialog box and click OK.
The password for this worksheet is “myexcelonline”.
This will unprotect the sheet and you will be able to make the edits you want.
Can’t remember the password that you had used to lock your Excel file? Click here to learn how to unprotect active worksheets using macros in Excel.
Editing in cell disabled in Excel
You might not be able to directly edit the contents of a cell by pressing the F2 key.
This might be because it has been disabled in Excel. You can easily enable or disable this function by following the steps below:
STEP 1: Click on the File tab
STEP 2: Click Options from the menu on the left side
STEP 3: In the dialog box, click on Advanced from the left panel
STEP 4: Under Editing option, check Allow editing directly in cells. Click OK at the bottom.
That’s it! Now you can enable the editing cell feature in Excel. To disable Edit mode, clear the Allow editing directly in cells check box.
Conclusion
If you are unable to make edits in your Excel worksheet, you can either use the enable edit button, or unprotect your worksheet or change the setting to Allow editing directly in cells,
You choose a method to unlock your worksheet and continue using this powerful tool for data analysis!
Make sure to download our FREE PDF on the 333 Excel keyboard Shortcuts here:
John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course.
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