I am unable to work in/edit an existing excel worksheet

Hi Amanda,

Excel allows granular control over what can be edited. Protection, validation, or file permissions often cause this issue, and adjusting these settings restores full editing capability.

if you can edit one column but not another, it usually means:

Sheet protection is enabled, and only certain cells are unlocked for editing.

Data validation rules restrict what can be entered in that column.

The column might be formatted for a specific data type (e.g., numbers only), and Excel rejects other input.

If the file is shared or synced via OneDrive, it could be in read-only mode due to permissions or sync issues.

What You Can Do:

Check Sheet Protection

Go to Review > Unprotect Sheet. If it asks for a password, the sheet is locked.

Inspect Data Validation

Select the problematic column, then go to Data > Data Validation to see if restrictions are applied.

Verify Cell Format

Right-click the column, choose Format Cells, and confirm it’s set to the correct type (e.g., Text or Number).

Check File Status

Look at the title bar. If it says Read-Only, save a copy or request edit permissions.

Let me know how it goes,  Happy to help!