How to Protect VBA Code in Excel 2016? Free Methods
Protect VBA Code in Excel with completely free techniques
Imagine the Scenario – You are working in an IT company, and you are creating an Excel sheet to keep track of critical data, or you are designing macros and modules to make your Excel sheet stand out from the rest of the company’s employees. However, someone stole your ideas while you were away. What are you going to do now? That is why it is so important to protect your documents and Excel spreadsheets.
Protecting your Excel workbook with VBA Code is one of the best and most advanced ways to lock VBA code in Excel worksheets 2016. But many users don’t know how to protect VBA code in Excel 2016? Don’t worry, here we will show you how to password protect VBA code in Excel for free.
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), developed by Microsoft, is the primary programming language for creating applications that automate processes and activities in Microsoft Office. Learn how to lock VBA code in Excel so that outsiders cannot sabotage or steal your macros by using these techniques.
Password Protect VBA Code in Excel using VBA Project
Step 1: Enable Developer Tab
Preparation: If your developer tab is not enabled in the Excel sheet, then we will show you how to enable the developer tab in the Excel sheet. (If your tab is visible then skip this part).
- Open the Excel sheet, and click on the “File” tab.
- Now click on the “Options” tab from the list to protect the VBA code in Excel.
- After that, a pop-up will appear on the screen, and click on the “Customize Ribbon”.
- lastly, enable the “Developer” tab and press the “OK” button.
Now go back on the sheet, and your developer tab will appear on the screen.
Password Protect VBA Code in Excel using VBA Project
- Open Excel files and click on the Visual Basic for application from the Developer tab.
- Now press on the “Tools” icon from the ribbons and select the “VBAProject Properties” option.
- Now a pop-up will appear on the screen and enter the project name.
- After that, click on the “Protection” tab.
- Lastly, enable the “Lock Project for Viewing” option and enter the password as per your choice to protect the VBA code in Excel.
Now your Excel workbook will be locked with a VBA code password.
Things to Keep in Mind
- In the absence of a Project password, it is difficult to retrieve a document in Excel; thus, you must be very certain of what your password is.
- You may crack the password with the help of third-party add-ins.
Here we are going to share some user queries, that we receiving over the last few months to protect the VBA code in Excel.
User’s Queries to Lock VBA Code in Excel 2016
“Hello there, everyone. I’m coming close to finishing up a Macro-Enabled Excel worksheet that I’ve been working on for quite some time. I want to make it available to the public, but I do not want anybody to be allowed to view my VBA code. I understand I can password secure it, but I’ve heard that it’s rather simple for someone to sneak into the VBA window and see it even if the password is protected. I’m curious if anybody has come up with any alternative strategies to protect VBA code in Excel. – Calvin from USA”
“Hi, was curious if anybody knows how to prevent users from viewing the VBA source code in Excel 2000. My current project involves transferring data from a SQL Server into an Excel spreadsheet. My database is connected via VBA, and my VBA code includes both the database id and password. Is there a method to lock the VBA code in Excel from inspecting my VBA code by pressing Alt+F11? – Reuel from France”
Time to Say Goodbye
Using macros may greatly speed up the creation of complex routines. Sadly, this exposes your code to theft or copying. There are many ways to prevent others from stealing or altering your VBA code by password protecting VBA code in Excel. The VBA code safeguards are not foolproof, but they do defend against casual attackers.