Friday, July 2, 2021
Sharing a Business Sheet With Restricted Access
Updated September 2026: in 2021 I wanted an online sheet for my business where staff entered daily sales and expenses, my partner saw everything, and staff saw only their parts, but could not find a way to lock and collaborate in Excel with my Microsoft 365 plan. I have rewritten it into a guide to sharing a spreadsheet with restricted access.
My Microsoft 365 family plan gave me OneDrive and Office apps. I wanted one online sheet for business users to record daily sales and expenses, accessible to my partner, with restricted access for staff. I could not work out how to share it that way.
Can you restrict parts of a shared Excel file?
Partly. Excel lets you protect sheets and lock specific cells so others cannot edit them, and you can hide sheets. But anyone who can open the file can usually see its content, and protection is not strong security. Sharing permissions in OneDrive apply to the whole file, not individual sheets.
What is a better setup for staff entries?
- Microsoft Forms: staff submit daily figures through a form; responses flow into an Excel sheet that only you and your partner can open.
- Separate files: one file per staff member or location, combined into a summary only owners can see.
- Protected input sheet: staff edit only unlocked input cells; formulas and summaries stay locked.
Is a family plan right for business use?
Not really. Microsoft 365 Family and Personal plans are licensed for personal, non-commercial use. For a business, Microsoft 365 Business plans add proper user accounts, sharing controls and admin tools. They are the correct licence for staff.
What about Google Sheets?
Google Sheets has similar options: protected ranges, Google Forms for input and file-level sharing. Many small businesses use a form feeding a private sheet, which is simple and works well.
How do you lock cells in Excel?
Select the cells staff should edit, open Format Cells, and clear the Locked option under Protection. Then use Review, Protect Sheet, with a password. Everything else becomes read-only. It prevents accidental changes, though it is not a substitute for proper access control.
How do you keep financial data safe?
Share only with named accounts, not "anyone with the link", review access regularly and remove staff who leave. Keep backups of the master file.