XL2000: Protection Unexpectedly Removed from Worksheet When You Run Macro

When you protect a worksheet manually, or protect a worksheet programmatically with the UserInterfaceOnly:=True argument, the protection may be removed when you run a macro. This behavior occurs even if the macro does not command that the protection be removed and the macro makes no changes to the worksheet.

This behavior can occur when macro commands the Page Setup dialog box, and then the macro commands print preview. An example of how this can occur is shown in the "More Information" section of this article.

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If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS To work around this issue, do one of the following:

• Reapply protection manually. To do this, follow these steps:
  
  
  1. On the Tools menu, point to Protection, and then click Protect Sheet.
  2. In the Protect Sheet dialog box, click OK.
  -or-
• Use the following sample macro to apply protection programmatically by :

  Sub Protect()
      Dim wb As Worksheet
      Set wb = Workbooks("Book1").Worksheets("Sheet1")
      wb.Protect userinterfaceonly:=True
  End Sub
  					

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Example of Problem

1. Start Excel, and then type Test in cell A1.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Protection, and then click Protect Sheet.
3. In the Protect Sheet dialog box, click OK.
   
   Note that you cannot make any changes to the sheet.
4. Open a new workbook.
5. In the second workbook, press ALT+F11 to start the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor.
6. On the Insert menu, click Module.
7. In the module sheet, type the following macro:

   Sub Test()
       UnprotectSheet Workbooks("Book1").Worksheets("Sheet1")
   End Sub
   
   Sub UnprotectSheet(oSht As Worksheet)
       oSht.Protect userinterfaceonly:=True
       Application.SendKeys "%S{ESC}%C"
       oSht.PrintPreview
   End Sub
   						

8. Press ALT+F11 to return to Excel.
9. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
10. In the Macro name list, click Test, and then click Run.
11. When the Page Setup dialog box appears, click OK.
12. Close print preview.
    
    Note that sheet protection is removed.