protect formulas in numbers

How can I protect formulas in a cell in numbers?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 21, 2025 04:18 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 21, 2025 06:14 AM

In Numbers you can't lock individual cells to prevent their content from being changed inadvertently.


But you can lock an entire table via Arrange > Lock.


So you could separate your formulas from your input area and put them in a separate table and lock that table.


Another idea is to place intermediate formulas in a particular column or row and hide that row or column (via Table > Hide Column or Table > Hide Row).


This provides only limited protection, however. It is as easy to unlock a table as to lock it, as easy to unhide a row or column as to hide it.


SG



2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 21, 2025 06:14 AM in response to GJB-Sr

In Numbers you can't lock individual cells to prevent their content from being changed inadvertently.


But you can lock an entire table via Arrange > Lock.


So you could separate your formulas from your input area and put them in a separate table and lock that table.


Another idea is to place intermediate formulas in a particular column or row and hide that row or column (via Table > Hide Column or Table > Hide Row).


This provides only limited protection, however. It is as easy to unlock a table as to lock it, as easy to unhide a row or column as to hide it.


SG



protect formulas in numbers

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