Do you need to unlock your protected sheet? This post is going to show you how to remove any sheet protection from your Google Sheets.

Locking a sheet allows you to prevent users from making changes to your spreadsheet. When you lock a sheet, it can apply to a range or a sheet.

If you want to remove this restriction and allow others to have editing permissions, you need to unlock your sheet tab.

In this post, you will learn how you can easily unlock your sheets using the Data menu, the Sheets Manager add-on, and a custom app script.

Get your copy of the example workbook and follow along!

Unlock a Sheet from the Data Menu

You can unlock a sheet from the Data menu.

Select the Data menu and click on Protect sheets and ranges.

The Protected sheets and ranges dialogue box opens on the right side of the spreadsheet. From there, select the name of the sheet you want to unlock.

After selecting the sheet you want to unlock, click on the Delete icon in the next window then click on the Done button.

Google Sheets will ask you if you’re sure that you want to remove this protected range. Click on the Remove button.

You have now unlocked the sheet!

Unlock a Sheet with the Sheet Manager App

You can use the Sheet Manager add-on to optimize the process of unlocking sheets.

The Sheet Manager add-on not only allows you to unlock one sheet but also allows you to unlock multiple sheets at a go.

To download the add-on, go to the Extensions menu, select Add-ons and click on Get add-ons. This takes you to the Google workspace market.

In the workspace market, search for Sheets Manager by Ablebits. Click on Install. You will be prompted to grant the necessary permission.

Exit the workspace market and then go back to the Extensions menu. You will find the Sheets Manager add-on in the dropdown.

Click on the Sheets Manager and select Start from the dropdown options.

When the Sheets Manager window opens on the right side, select the sheets you want to unlock. To select the sheets, hold down the Ctrl key.

After selecting the sheets to unlock, click on the padlock icon in the menu and select Unprotect.

You can also find the Unprotect option when you right-click on any of the selected sheets.

When you’re done, you will have unlocked your selected sheets.

Unlock a Sheet with an Apps Script

An alternative to using an add-on would be to create a custom unprotect function using an app script.

You can open the apps script editor from the Extensions menu ribbon, then click on Apps script.

function sheetsUnprotect() {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  var protections = ss.getProtections(SpreadsheetApp.ProtectionType.SHEET);
  for (i = 0; i < protections.length; i++) {
  protections[i].remove();
  }
}

function onOpen(e) {
  SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
  .createMenu("Sheets")
  .addItem('Unprotect Sheets', 'sheetsUnprotect')
  .addToUi();

}

This script creates a custom menu ribbon called Sheets after reloading the spreadsheet.

The option in the submenu, Unprotect Sheets unlocks all the sheets in the spreadsheet when you click on it.

Conclusions

Locking sheets help to protect data from unauthorized access.

When you want to grant access to other users, or the data no longer contains sensitive information, then you will want to unlock the sheet.

When you want to unlock a sheet, you can do it either from the sheet tab’s right-click menu, by using the sheets manager add-on, or by a custom app script.

How do you unlock your sheet tabs? Do you have any other tips? Let me know in the comments below!