Sort data on protected sheet on Excel Online

Question

Why can't I sort my data when I protect my worksheet?

I tick the option to allow sort after I protect, but I always get:

I look online and I notice this on the official Microsoft page:

What is the point of this option to "allow sort" when you can't actually use it?

Seems pointless isn't it? Is there a way to actually use this or is this another feature Microsoft has implemented that they know is pointless?

Any help would be appreciated. I need to share my sheet with my team, but want to keep it protected so they don't accidentally mess up my formulas, but still give them the freedom to sort and filter it for their own use.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Vch

I'm Anna and I'd be happy to help you with your question. In this Forum, we are Microsoft consumers just like yourself.

Sorry for the trouble this might have caused. The reason is that when we sort the column, it will change the value of the cell. So, actually, it is an "edit“ process. But the protected worksheet in Excel Online is in a read-only mode and we can't change it. So we are not able to sort the column in Excel Online. As a result, we need to sort it in the Excel client.

Reference: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/sort-edit-range-protected-sheet-errors-in-excel/8d50d3a4-d25b-44c1-8168-c41bd87c4c57

I hope this helps ;-), let me know if this is contrary to what you need, I would still be helpful to answer more of your questions.

Best Regards,

Anna

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