you will never know When one of your files might reach someone it wasn’t meant to reach — it might be forwarded via email, a USB stick left on a desk, or it might even be an unauthorized user accessing your computer.
If this happens, password protection is all between your data and the people you don’t want to see. It’s an extra layer of security that you can effortlessly add to your most sensitive files.
How you go about it will depend on the software you used to create the file in the first place. Some applications have built-in password protection, while in other cases you need to lock your files using a different method.
Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
In Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for Windows, open the file you want to password protect, and select document and information. You should see a protection option at the top of the next list: click this button, select Encrypt with passwordthen enter your password.
Passwords can be up to 15 characters long and are case-sensitive, so double-check what you enter. If you forget your password for a document, spreadsheet, or presentation, you won’t be able to get it back – you’ll have to start from scratch.
If you’re using Office on macOS, the process is slightly different: Open review tabs in the ribbon menu at the top, then click Protect button to enter the password. (Depending on the program you’re in, the button’s labeling will vary slightly.)
Google Docs, Sheets & Slides
There is no similar password protection feature in Google Drive, because your files are already password protected: the password associated with your Google Account, which is used to log in and view documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
If you choose to share files from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides – share A button in the upper right corner when working on something — you can invite specific users to view it (via their email address) or generate a link that anyone can use.
