XL: Unlocked Cells Not Underlined With Protection Enabled

ID: Q106390

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel versions earlier than 5.0, while worksheet protection is enabled and gridlines are turned off, unlocked cells appear underlined. This underline identifies the cells that you can edit.

Although this feature is not available in Microsoft Excel versions 5.0 and later, you can create a macro that will allow you to simulate this behavior.

MORE INFORMATION

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/
The following Visual Basic macro places a bottom border on all unlocked cells in a worksheet. The macro also removes any bottom border from locked cells. To create the macro, follow these steps:

1. On the Insert menu, point to Macro, and then click Module. 

   In Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Excel 98, click the Tools menu,
   point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor. On the Insert menu,
   click Module.
2. In the module, type the following macro code: 

      Sub Format_Unlocked_Cells()
          'Declare procedure-level variables
          Dim x As Range, lastcell As Range
          'Prevent screen redraw to speed up the macro
          Application.ScreenUpdating = False
          'Unprotect the worksheet to allow editing
          ActiveSheet.Unprotect ("my_password")
          'Set lastcell to point to the last cell on the sheet
          Set lastcell = Selection.SpecialCells(xlLastCell)

          'Place bottom borders on unlocked cells and remove any bottom
          'borders from locked cells
          For Each x In Range("A1", lastcell)
              With x.Borders(xlBottom)
                  If x.Locked = False Then
                      .Weight = xlHairline
                      .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
                  Else
                      .LineStyle = xlNone
                  End If
              End With
          Next x

          'Re-apply worksheet protection.
          ActiveSheet.Protect ("my_password")

      End Sub
NOTE: If you want to format a specific cell range, replace Range("A1", lastcell) with the range you want to format, for example, Range("A1:G100").

To use the macro, follow these steps:

1. Activate the worksheet that you want to format.

2. On the Tools menu, click Macro. (In Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft 

   Excel 98, click the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.)
3. From the list of macros, select the Format_Unlocked_Cells macro. Click 
   Run.

REFERENCES

"Visual Basic User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 5

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for
               Applications
Additional query words: 5.00 5.00a 5.00c 7.00 7.00a XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5 
Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode PgmOthr PgmHowto KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999